The last time the Washington Capitals and the Toronto Maple Leafs faced-off, they played in an epic first-round series during the 2017 playoffs. The veteran Capitals, led by one of the greatest goalscorers of all time and victors of the Presidents’ Trophy, barely squeaked by the up-and-coming Leafs featuring Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and that tiny guy who can skate fast and wears jorts.
With a summer and training camp behind them, the Leafs will now test how much they’ve improved against a Capitals team that is missing three veteran defensemen from last year’s playoff run (Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, and Nate Schmidt). Featuring a blue line that features Chrstian Djoos, Madison Bowey, and Aaron Ness, the Capitals gave up eight goals Saturday against the Flyers.
The game should be entertaining, one way or another, so we hope you tune it to NBC Washington at 7 PM for the game, and Mr. Patrick Holden will have your recap.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 4-1-0 | 3-2-1 |
| Shot Attempt % | 55.9% | 46.9% |
| PDO | 101.3 | 103.4 |
| Power Play | 30.8% | 30.0% |
| Penalty Kill | 79.2% | 76.9% |
Projected Lines
As always, Isabelle from the Washington Post has the lines. Can I interest you in a little Nathan Walker for the evening?
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Vrana
Burakovsky – Backstrom – Oshie
Connolly – Eller – Wilson
Walker – Beagle – DSP
Djoos – Carlson
Orpik – Bowey
Orlov – Chorney
Holtby
We need to talk about Auston Matthews
Maybe it’s not that we need to talk about him, but instead we should probably just watch and understand that he is a maniac.
Auston Matthews is a Maple Leaf, y’all pic.twitter.com/EKrTlpPqmd
— Richard Lee-Sam (@RLeesam) October 14, 2017
And here he is getting the OT winner. Ugh. If anyone has his phone number, let me know because I want to convince him to play for a team that rhymes with the Schmashington Schmapitals.
We’re all just living in Auston Matthews’ world. pic.twitter.com/wK7n1RPKVr
— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) October 15, 2017
Storylines
- Alex Ovechkin and Andre Burakovsky are still adorable during warm-ups. I’m calling their couple name “Buravechkin”.
- Lucas Johansen got his first AHL point after assisting on a goal by Chandler Stephenson!
- Want more good AHL news? Don’t worry, Jonas Siegenthaler can help! He scored his first AHL goal.
- B-Mac mentioned he might consider a trade as the Capitals continued to work on their defensive pairings. I’m officially launching the #Schmidtback2DC campaign.
- TJ Oshie at the Peppa Pig concert is an ULTIMATE great dad move.
- Nick Backstrom made the NHL’s Third Star of the Week but it’s important for him to remember he’s the first star of the week in our hearts. Every single week.
- Alex Semin is still hoping to return to the KHL. I don’t know what to say anymore about Sasha.
- I don’t blame you if you don’t want to relive the Flyers-Caps game from Saturday night…but you should take a peek at the issue on defense.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov is still on fire, but what else is new.
Djoos is Loose Tee
Ain’t she a beaut! Get yours here and support your new Swedish sweetheart.
Full Coverage of Caps vs Maple Leafs
Headline photo: Fansided
