Washington Capitals (27-16-6 60pts) v. Toronto Maple Leafs (29-17-2 60pts)
Game Recap:
For the majority of the first period it was a major snoozer until the final couple of minutes when the Capitals got a powerplay when Patrick Marleau would be called for hooking. Nicklas Backstrom would net the powerplay goal to give the Capitals the 1-0 lead, but it would not last long as right away Nazem Kadri would poke the puck past Braden Holtby to tie the game at 1.
Steve’s Analysis: Leafs had some jump at the beginning of the period but soon began to settle in. Trading shot for shot in one of the most boring periods I’ve seen. Backstrom scored on a Marleau penalty to make it 1-0 but a miscue by Holtby allowed Kadri to tie the game up with 24 seconds remaining.
The second period would have a better start for the Capitals as the TJ Oshie would feed Alex Ovechkin on the rush and Ovechkin would rip it from the top of the faceoff circle past Frederik Andersen to give the Capitals the 2-1 lead. After some more back and forth between the two teams, the Maple Leafs would capitalize after a great defensive play by William Nylander that would lead to Nakita Zaitsev scoring his first of the season to tie the game at 2. Then Ovechkin would take a bad cross checking penalty to give the Maple Leafs the powerplay, which Auston Matthews would score on to get himself back on the score sheet while on the powerplay to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead going into the 2nd intermission.
Steve’s Analysis: Leafs looked to be having one of those games again. But Zaitsev with an nice point shot tied it up and Matthews with a deadly studder step and snipe to break the slump and make it 3-2 Toronto heading to the 3rd.
The third period would be all Maple Leafs the first 10 minutes of the period which would feature two more goals from Kadri to net the hat trick and give the Maple Leafs a three goal lead. The Capitals would get one back when Matt Niskanen bombed one from the point, but it would too late for the Capitals as Mitch Marner would then net the empty netter to seal this game for the Maple Leafs and give the Capitals their seventh straight loss going into the All Star Break.
Steve’s Analysis: Leafs came to play in 3rd not letting Andersen’s great game go to waste. Kadri notched the Hat trick, along with 3 point for his line mate Nylander and Marner sealed the deal with an empty netter off of a Ovechkin giveaway in the neutral zone.
Lineups:
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Dmitrij Jaskin — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson — Travis Boyd — Andre Burakovsky
Dmitry Orlov — John Carlson
Michal Kempny — Matt Niskanen
Madison Bowey — Jonas Siegenthaler
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Nic Dowd, Devante Smith-Pelly, Brooks Orpik
Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh)
Toronto Maple Leafs:
Patrick Marleau — Auston Matthews — Mitchell Marner
Zach Hyman — John Tavares — Kasperi Kapanen
Connor Brown — Nazem Kadri — William Nylander
Par Lindholm — Frederik Gauthier — Trevor Moore
Morgan Rielly — Ron Hainsey
Travis Dermott — Nikita Zaitsev
Martin Marincin — Igor Ozhiganov
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
Scratched: Justin Holl
Injured: Tyler Ennis (broken ankle), Andreas Johnsson (concussion), Jake Gardiner (back spasms)
First Period:
Maple Leafs Penalty – 16:49 – Patrick Marleau 2 minutes for Hooking
Capitals PPG – 18:47 – Nicklas Backstrom (13) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (32) from John Carlson (39)
Maple Leafs Goal – 19:34 – Nazem Kadri (11) from William Nylander (4) and Morgan Rielly (36)
End of 1st – WAS – 1 TOR – 1
Shots 10 08
Faceoffs 05 18
Hits 08 03
PP 1/1 0/0
Second Period:
Capitals Goal – 3:51 – Alex Ovechkin (37) from TJ Oshie (12) and Michal Kempny (11)
Maple Leafs Goal – 13:11 – Nakita Zaitsev (1) from William Nylander (5) and Nazem Kadri (19)
Capitals Penalty – 15:35 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for Cross Checking
Maple Leafs PPG – 16:19 – Auston Matthews (21) from Morgan Rielly (37)
End of 2nd – WAS – 2 TOR – 3
Shots 29 26
Faceoffs 14 29
Hits 17 09
PP 1/1 1/1
Third Period:
Maple Leafs Goal – 2:10 – Nazem Kadri (12) from Connor Brown (13) and Martin Marincin (2)
Maple Leafs Goal – 10:15 – Nazem Kadri (13) from Connor Brown (14) and William Nylander (6)
Capitals Goal – 17:14 – Matt Niskanen (7) from TJ Oshie (13) and Nicklas Backstrom (38)
Maple Leafs ENG – 19:27 – Mitch Marner (20) from unassisted
End of 3rd – WAS – 3 TOR – 6
Shots 44 37
Faceoffs 21 38
Hits 32 15
PP 1/1 1/1
Next Up:
Washington (27-16-6 60pts) v. Calgary (33-13-5 71pts) – February 1st
Toronto (30-17-2 62pts) @ Detroit (19-25-7 45pts) – February 1st
The Xperience Hockey Talk 