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Darkening: Leafs beat Caps 6-3

By Peter Hassett

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January 23, 2019 10:08 pm

In their final game before the all-star break, the Washington Capitals suffered their seventh consecutive loss. Tired, on the road, and against a hungry Toronto Maple Leafs team, the Caps just sorta bled out until the buzzer.

Goalscoring began just fine, with Backstrom at the back door, taking a pass from Kuznetsov on the power play. Leafs forward Nazem Kadri restored the tie with a net crash on a loose puck.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 37th of the season in the second period, taking a pass from TJ Oshie, but Nikita Zaitsev replied from the slot to even it back up. Auston Matthews converted a power play to put the Leafs up before the period was up.

In the third period, Kadri recorded his second and third goals of the night as the Leafs danced around the Caps defense. Matt Niskanen got a goal off a deflection while Ovi took up space in the slot, but an empty-netter sealed it.

Caps lose again.

  • Alex Ovechkin collided with TJ Oshie in the first period. Ovechkin laughed the injury off, but concussion spotters did not. Ovi was banished to the quiet room but returned for a power play as soon as he cleared. There should be a motto about this. Putting it on my to-do list.
  • Ovi’s goal in the second period, a big slapper set up by Oshie, gives him 37 on the season and ties with Sergei Fedorov in all-time points.
  • Toronto’s goal song is “You Make My Dreams” by Hall and Oates. It’s a great song. Ian’s wife Ashley requested my band play it at their wedding. I love it. But I could do without hearing it again for awhile.
  • One could use the cliche that, in his recent struggles, Matt Niskanen has been gripping his stick too tight. Before Nikita Zaitsev scored, Niskanen dropped his stick and sought to retrieve it rather than cover his man.
  • The line of Devante Smith-Pelly, Lars Eller, and Brett Connolly line were on the ice for three Leafs goals.
  • Those last two bullets are weird. Niskanen and the third line were fine on a pattern level and Nisky even got a goal, but it was a few big mistakes that sank them. That’s what happens in a slump, I guess.
  • Jonas Siegenthaler saved a goal. I like him.
  • Brooks Orpik and Dmitrij Jaskin both sat out the game. I get the Orpik scratch; he’s 38, but Jaskin was the most responsible Caps forward on Tuesday night. He earned a sweater and didn’t get one. Without him, the fourth line was dead ice.
  • Like Viktor Arvidsson and Tomas Hertl before him, Nazem Kadri scored a hat trick on the slumping Caps. So, last year I made an inartful tweet about that player. It led to a lot of online dunking that I imagine was very fun for the dunkers but which I have to admit was really unpleasant for me. So I made another tweet on Wednesday night, hoping to make light of that pile-on and present myself as above the fray, and I totally regret it. I got more harassment, and it hurt. I’ve usually got a pretty thick skin here, but I’m not invulnerable. Getting hundreds of messages from people all telling you how stupid and worthless you are — it really gets to you after a while. That’s all I have to say about that.

This was always gonna be a tough game. No rest, road trip, tough opponent. It’s one of the tougher games on the Caps’ schedule, and the close of a very challenging month for the team. But it was still a disaster.

And now it’s over. The losing streak will follow the Caps into February, but for the next eight days let’s pretend it doesn’t exist. Let’s pretend like a loss to the Flames when we reconvene won’t force RMNB to go dark. Let’s pretend.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Maple Leafs

Headline photo: Claus Andersen

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