The Washington Capitals hope to come back from a miserable loss to New Jersey by hosting the high-scoring Toronto Maple Leafs. This will be a fun one: two high-event teams with tons of star power will collide in Chinatown tonight. We’ll see the head-to-head clashes of titans we’ve been waiting for forever – like Matthews vs Stephenson and Tavares vs Dowd. I can hardly wait.
Your recap will be delivered by Chris Cerullo. Game coverage is on NBCS Washington starts at 6 PM, and you can stream it all online.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 4-1-0 | 2-1-1 |
| Shot Attempt % | 51.7% | 44.6% |
| PDO | 99.7 | 101.3 |
| Power Play | 50.0% | 37.5% |
| Penalty Kill | 84.6% | 80.0% |
Projected Lines
The indispensable Izzy reports on some relatively big shakeups in the lines. More on this below.
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Stephenson
Vrana – Backstrom – Oshie
Burakovsky – Eller – Connolly
Jaskin – Dowd – DSP
Orlov – Niskanen
Kempny – Carlson
Orpik – Djoos
Holtby
Auston vs Connor
It’s stunning how stupid this sport is sometimes. With all of five games in the books, the hockey world now asks itself if Toronto’s Auston Matthews (9 goals, 3 assists) is better than Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (the best player in the world). This debate has all the intellectual rigor of wondering if Ovechkin would maintain his 287-goalscoring pace after scoring seven goals in the first two games of last season.
Auston Matthews is currently shooting 52.9 percent, a tiny uptick from the 15.9 he shot in his first two seasons. Meanwhile, Connor McDavid is obviously and by far the best player in the world. We can revisit this in December if you want. Not before.
Storylines
- Bowey is scratched again. Stephenson replaces Brett Connolly on the top line, which means the third line is reunited (Alex has thoughts on this). Djoos draws the short straw. Holtby returns to the net after Copley’s 6-0 wipeout vs New Jersey.
- Chris Cerullo has dissected the rotting corpse of that loss, which was so so bad, you guys.
- The Leafs rank first in goals scored. Also in goals allowed.
- Please read Julia’s excellent story on the reduction in Auston Watson’s suspension.
- That reduction came at the hands of the same arbitrator who would review Tom Wilson’s suspension after Thursday’s review with Bettman.
- The Cup is coming to Eleanor Norton Holmes office next week!
Train to Busan
I discussed my spooky movie schedule for this spooky month on the podcast. Last night, Aileen and I watched Train to Busan, a 2016 Korean zombie movie. I liked it a lot. I’m an easy mark as a zombie-movie fan, but this film added thoughtfulness and specificity that are often missing from the genre (excepting Romero’s movies and 28 Days Later).
It’s not very gory, relatively, but it is relentlessly intense. If that’s okay with you, it’s on Netflix now. I recommend it.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Leafs
Headline photo: Sharp Magazine
