The Washington Capitals got themselves in trouble early against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, but unlike last time they corrected course before it was too late. A three-goal explosion in the second period gave them a lasting lead for a big home-ice win.
Kasperi Kapanen snagged a shorthanded goal in the first period, which Ilya Mikheyev compounded with an odd-man rush to make it 2-0 Leafs after just 11 minutes. Then the Caps turned it on. Jakub Vrana scorched a shot past Michael Hutchinson to get Washington on the scoreboard, and three more goals followed in the second period: Kuznetsov, Carlson, and Backstrom all piling on. John Tavares got a six-on-five goal with 150 seconds left in regulation to make it close, but the Caps held on.
Caps win 4-3!
- For the second game in a row, the first shot of the night ended up in the back of Washington’s net. At least it wasn’t Braden Holtby this time. On balance, kinda/sorta starting goalie Ilya Samsonov was fine, though everyone would have been happier if he coulda stopped some of those early shots. I think he saved just four of the first six. (Which is not to say the Caps defense was competent there early on. To that point…)
- Washington’s power play is still struggling on neutral ice. It sure seems like they’re trying some high-concept zone-entry schemes, but the outcomes have been pretty consistent: the opponent penalty kill forces a dump and fishes the puck out of their zone. That’s usually bad enough, but things got worse on Wednesday with that above-mentioned shorthanded goal.
- In response, the Caps exploded with offense in the second period. Kuznetsov’s and Backstrom’s goals came just eleven seconds apart. Basically it was two goals inside just one shift by John Carlson, who notched his eleventh assist and third goal (a Carly shot from the Ovi spot) against the Leafs.
- Late in the second period, Jonas Siegenthaler and Richard Panik collided, with both looking woozy. They did not return to the game. The Caps say they will be evaluated tomorrow.
Jonas Siegenthaler and Richard Panik both leave the ice after colliding into each other in the defensive zone pic.twitter.com/5Tm39GZHdy
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 17, 2019
- Those injuries meant the Caps had five defenders and eleven skaters for the third period, which the Leafs dominated early on.
- I want to say that I’m really enjoying the play of Brendan Leipsic. He’s not exactly racking up points, but he’s a lovely skater and tenacious at driving to the net. He drew the opening penalty of this game and threatened Hutchinson a bunch of times.
- Discipline hasn’t really been Washington’s forte of late, but they certainly got the best of Toronto in this one. The Leafs committed penalties early and often, but the Caps got busted for none until Hagelin got a soft hooking call in the third period.
- Alex Ovechkin had a brutal turnover late in the game to give Tavares an easy goal, making a comfy win a bit more tense than it needed to be.
Navy and violet #JoeBSuitOfTheNight #CapsLeafs pic.twitter.com/ou6lPClmlY
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 16, 2019
So Ilya Samsonov had a shaky opening but earned a W in his first start at Capital One Arena. I have a feeling there will be many more to come.
Overall, the Caps narrowly outplayed the Leafs. It would have been a bigger margin had they not lost Panik and Siegenthaler after two periods. Aside from the standings points, the status of those two players may have the longest impact on the team. 🤞
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Maple Leafs
Headline photo: Scott Taetsch
