The Washington Capitals just completed the somewhat easy part of their early October schedule, losing 3 of 4. Now things turn difficult.
Tuesday, the Capitals take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Capital One Arena as part of Frozen Frenzy. Every team in the NHL plays with staggering start times, blessing us with a 6 pm puck drop on ESPN.
(How many of you missed most of the first period completely unaware of this? It’s okay, tell us in the comments.)
Must read RMNB content
- Spencer Carbery on what he learned as an assistant for the Leafs
- Caps are going with new defense pairings tonight
- Pride Tape is allowed again
- Hunter Shepard will make his NHL debut against the Devils
- Andrew Cristall is your WHL Player of the Week
- What the NHL’s new analytics site tells us about the Capitals
Lines
Lineys!#CapsLeafs | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/Nl6FtXTV6x
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 24, 2023
Butt Taps
butt taps: hard mode pic.twitter.com/hLdnhy9tvb
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 24, 2023
1st Period
The tides have waned and the golden sands of Ovi Island have reappeared
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 24, 2023
NICKLAS BACKSTROM SCORES THE CAPITALS’ FIRST POWER PLAY GOAL OF THE SEASON until officials review it for goaltender interference and call it back. Ovi charged into the crease and took out Joseph Woll.
Nicklas Backstrom takes a minor penalty for hooking.
Evgeny Kuznetsov takes a delay-of-game penalty for sending the puck off the rink in the defensive zone.
🚨 1-0 Leafs. Morgan Rielly scores with four seconds remaining on the power play. The defenseman found some space in the slot and beat Darcy Kuemper under the arm.
MO STRIKES FIRST! pic.twitter.com/uVy2O6CLbc
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 24, 2023
The Capitals and the New Jersey Devils are the only teams in the NHL left to allow the first goal to an opponent in every game this season. The Caps play the Devils Wednesday night.
Alex Ovechkin had 7 shots, by himself, in the first period. The Caps outshot the Leafs 16-5 in the first period, mostly due to how the Leafs let Ovi shot on the power play. The Maple Leafs out-attempted the Capitals 10-8 at five-on-five. The Capitals hold the expected goals lead 1.47 to 0.45.
2nd Period
Alex Ovechkin is stopped on a penalty shot.
🚨 2-0 Leafs. John Tavares makes it 2-0 with a tip in front of the net.
Textbook Tavares Tip 🫡 pic.twitter.com/6f6aQ25EO7
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 24, 2023
🚨 3-0 Leafs. William Nylander sheds Nick Jensen down the wing and scores easily.
WILLY'S WHEELIN & DEALIN 😎 pic.twitter.com/N5JlpOqpMS
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 24, 2023
🚨 4-0 Leafs. Auston Matthews wide open in the left circle beats Kuemper to the top corner of the net.
🚨 4-1 Capitals. Alex Ovechkin scores his first goal of the season and the Capitals’ first power play goal of the year.
The Capitals are out-shooting the Leafs 29-13. At five-on-five, the Capitals hold a slight shot-attempts advantage 26-24.
3rd Period
Capitals lose 4-1. Here’s the RMNB recap. For the fifth-straight game to start the season, the Capitals have not had a lead at any point.
The Caps outshot the Leafs 37-17 and out-attempted them at 5v5, 44-31.
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