Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images
The Washington Capitals were shredded by the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-3 Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The loss drops the Capitals record to 41-23-10 (92 points) on the season.
The Leafs opened the scoring with a quick strike early in the first frame and added a tally just past the midway point for a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.
The Capitals would get on the scoreboard with a tally from John Carlson early in the second period, but the Leafs would answer 11 seconds later and score three more goals to take a 6-1 lead before Tom Wilson notched the Capitals second tally late in the middle frame.
The Leafs would make it 7-2 early in the final frame before Nic Dowd recorded the Capitals third goal of the game, late in the third period.
STATS
STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (22-9-0-4, 2.93 GAA, .899 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Capitals. Jack Campbell (27-9-0-5, 2.72 GAA, .912 sv%) got the start in goal for the Maple Leafs. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Scratches: Dmitry Orlov (lower body), Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Connor McMichael.
FIRST PERIOD
The Leafs opened the scoring with a goal from Michael Bunting (21) at 4:37 of the first period. Mitch Marner (60) and Auston Matthews (42) had the helpers.
MATTY.
MITCHY.
MIKEY!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/lZ2NZOzSNL— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 14, 2022
The Leafs stretched their lead to 2-0 on a goal by William Nylander (29) at 13:45 of the first period. Pierre Engvall (16) and Jake Muzzin (11) had the assists.
nhl video highlight – william nylander scores against the washington capitals to make it 2-0. pic.twitter.com/81mgRtlOVm
— Toronto Maple Leafs Game Bot (@MapleLeafsBot) April 14, 2022
The period would end with the Leafs leading 2-0. The Leafs led in shot attempts 20-4, scoring chances 11-1, high-danger chances 4-0 and expected goals .88 to .21.
SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals cut the Leafs lead to 2-1 on a beautiful rush by John Carlson (15) at 10:08 of the second period. The goal was unassisted.
Just DISGUSTING moves from John Carlson 🤮 @Capitals pic.twitter.com/kttQ53kUUr
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 15, 2022
But the Leafs reinstated their two-goal lead just 11 seconds later with a goal from Ilya Lyubushkin (1) at 10:19 of the second period. Morgan Reilly (x) and John Tavares (45) had the helpers.
HIS FIRST AS A BUD! 🔵 pic.twitter.com/5NF04pVrq9
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 15, 2022
18 seconds later the Leafs extended their lead to 4-1 on a goal from William Nylander (30), his second of the game, at 10:37 of the middle frame.
William Nylander is a two-time 30-goal scorer #Hockey365 #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/Cc2YyQcfwO
— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) April 15, 2022
The Leafs would make it 5-1 later in the period on a goal from Ilya Mikheyev (16) at 14:44 of the middle frame. John Tavares and Auston Matthews had the assists.
ILYA MIKHEYEV 🚨
COBRA! pic.twitter.com/oBtohF83Ud
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 15, 2022
The Leafs would add a sixth goal before the Capitals finally answered with a goal from Tom Wilson (24) at 19:07 of the second period.
Tom Wilson scores the Capital’s second of the night pic.twitter.com/FUi0zeqvse
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 15, 2022
The period would end with the Leafs leading 6-2. The Leafs led in shot attempts 14-7 in the second period and led 34-11 after two periods. The Leafs led in expected goals 1.52 to .29 after 40 minutes of play.
THIRD PERIOD
The Leafs made it 7-2 early in the final frame on Ilya Mikheyev‘s second goal of the game at 1:27 of the third.
We must protect Ilya Mikheyev at all costs. He’s so precious! 😭💙#LeafsForever https://t.co/weL0HkQtgv
— Mary (@marywells_xo) April 15, 2022
Nic Dowd (9) would pot the Capitals third goal late in the final frame to make it 7-3.
Nic Dowd scores off the rebound pic.twitter.com/rfoZUvL5px
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 15, 2022
That would be the final.
SHAVINGS
- John Carlson cut the Maple Leafs lead to 2-1 with his 15th goal of the season. This is the second time in his career with 15 goals and 50 assists in a season, the first defenseman in franchise history to accomplish this feat twice.
- Tom Wilson scores to cut Toronto’s lead to 6-2. That marks Wilson’s fourth straight game with a point (3g, 2a).
SCENES FROM THE SIX
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcWZgo7rs–/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcWc1mrp9qu/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
We were doing so well….
We need to figure why we give up so many response goals and why they seem to occur so quickly. After Carlson goal at 2-1 we were clawing back into it. A man jute later the game was essentially over.
The geriatric Caps were out hustled. The Leafs played the kind of fast break game that Jagr said he hates. The Caps did not have the speed (youth) on the ice to keep up with them or did not play the kind of stifling defense that Trotz loves. That to me is on the coaches. Either the wrong players were on the ice (no youth) or the wrong game plan was followed.
Maybe Lavi and the Caps will win the Cup. Maybe I will be proven wrong. But Lavi and GMBM and their veterans game do not impress me.
Time will tell. They played well the previous four games, and the occasional clunker is to be expected.
This road trip well tell a lot about this team and its future in the playoffs. Ok the got their clock cleaned by a yonger team that is faster and has way moree scorers. They should bounce back nicely against the Habs. The real tell will be the games out west aginst Colorado and Vegas and then Arizona before they head home to face Toronto again. to finish with 2 games against the NYI and one against the NYR is going to be tough but winnable if the Caps play like they should.
Yet our younger and faster guys get traded, sent to Hershey or watch from the press box while our veterans give us this result.
You are not wrong.
Question
Saw Hershey signed two kids from college for this and next season. Why Hershey signing instead of Caps? Not prospects or lack of contracts available?
I believe you nailed it. It’s semantics. The Capitals have room for just 4 more contracts. Now a couple are likely to go away this summer, but there are several players I expect they will sign soon.