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Not a disaster: Leafs beat Caps 2-0

By Patrick Holden

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October 17, 2017 9:33 pm

The Maple Leafs came to town to battle the Caps for the first time since the guys in red disposed of them in the playoffs last spring. What an uneventful game, eh?

The Caps fought off an early push from the Leafs and managed to push back as the period went on, but the first ended 0-0.

Second period scoring? Nope. Still 0-0 after two.

Connor Brown finally got the first goal of the game a little over five minutes into the third to put the Leafs up 1-0. Nazem Kadri added an empty net goal to ice the game.

Leafs beat Caps 2-0.

  • Madison Bowey’s parents made it to the game tonight and his mom’s hat game was on point.

  • Bowey had a rough first game against Philly. He looked a like a totally different player tonight. Overall, a steady performance for number 22 in red.
  • The Leafs came out flying in the opening minutes, but thanks to a lack of finishing ability combined with Braden Holtby, they weren’t able to break through. The Caps were pinned in for so long that John Carlson took a 1:49 shift early in the game. He skated 10:07 in the first period which seems like, uh, a lot.
  • Speaking of Carlson, the Caps drafted him in the first round of the 2008 draft with a pick they acquired from the Flyers. The main player going the other way in the deal for the pick to select Carlson was Steve Eminger, who was in the house tonight.

  • Tyler Graovac did not play a lot in the first period because he left the game injured and did not return. Remember when Peter mentioned that the Caps were unusually healthy last season and a change in that could cause serious issues this season? Not that the Graovac injury in itself is all that big of a deal, but let’s stop with the injuries for a bit, please. This means you, TJ Oshie.
  • The Leafs are a really fast team. #Analysis
  • Nicklas Backstrom is too pure for this world. #Analysis
  • The Caps line of Alex Ovechin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Jakub Vrana has been productive but they are likely going to start bleeding goals against if they continue to give up shots at this rate. All three players were -11 in five-on-five shot attempts through two periods.
  • The Caps responded well after the Leafs goal with a few solid shifts. Kuznetsov and Vrama looked particularly determined to lead the comeback.

Joe B. suit of the night

Given how hot the Leafs offense was coming into this game and the condition of the Caps defense, a 2-0 effort is respectable. This team obviously isn’t looking for just respectable, but this is a game in mid-October so we can focus on more than just the result. The Leafs had some glorious chances that they didn’t capitalize on, and Holtby came up huge at times, but the Caps were much better defensively than they were against the Flyers. Onward.

Headline image: Patrick McDermott

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