Ryan Leonard may have had a multi-point game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, but his time in Raleigh ended on a sour note, even beyond the Capitals’ 4-2 defeat.
After strong play earlier in the night, Leonard headed to the penalty box for a slash midway through the third period and watched nearly the entire rest of the game from the bench.
Leonard slashed Carolina forward Nikolaj Ehlers twice before an official blew his whistle, sending the Capitals to their fourth penalty kill of the night with the score tied 2-2. The call marked Leonard’s second trip to the penalty box of the night, as he got into a scrum with Jackson Blake in the second period that earned both players roughing minors.
Leonard has now taken four penalties in six games this season, ranking behind Jakob Chychrun (6) for most on the team.
Though the Hurricanes’ power play didn’t score while Leonard was in the box (they waited until Justin Sourdif took a tripping call six minutes later), Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery benched Leonard once the slashing penalty expired. Only after Mark Jankowski scored on an empty net, effectively sealing the game for Carolina, did Carbery send Leonard out for the final 22 seconds of the loss.
“I mean, he did some good things, but like I said, (that penalty) cannot happen,” Carbery said postgame. “Cannot happen, and he’ll learn from it, but he didn’t see a shift for the rest of the game for that.
“You just cannot take a frustrating penalty and slash a guy twice when the game’s on the line. Can’t happen.”
Leonard had arguably been the Capitals’ best forward in Raleigh until tempers boiled over in the third, assisting on both of the Capitals’ goals. He attempted to get a shot off himself in the first period before passing the puck to Boone Jenner, who beat Pyotr Kochetkov with a snapshot from the circle.
With the game tied in the second period, Leonard retrieved the puck after a pile-up behind the Hurricanes’ net and fed a pass to Dylan Strome, who set up Justin Holl for his first goal as a Capital.
Leonard’s 2:36 in power-play ice time also led the team, limited as it may be by Carolina’s discipline.On the defensive front, Leonard slid to the ice to make a sprawling shot block against Sean Walker in the second period, helping to preserve what was then a one-goal lead.
Carbery acknowledged that Leonard, like several of his teammates, is still a young player getting used to the NHL, even now in his sophomore season. Though Carbery was confident the moment would help Leonard improve in the future, that didn’t make the mistake any more acceptable.
“We’ve got a lot of young players that are learning to play in this league for the first time,” Carbery said. “And even second year guys that are learning to navigate. Like Leonard, penalty tonight, can’t happen. Things like that that we’ll just continue to correct them and continue to work with our guys. And even our veteran guys, the new guys, learning how to quote-unquote play ‘winning hockey’ for 60 straight minutes, especially against good teams and on the road.”
Leonard and the Capitals will have little time to ponder the loss: the Capitals will finish a back-to-back at home against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
