The Washington Capitals came into Toronto on a 4 game winning streak to start their 5 game road swing. A domineering 9 to 2 win over the Flyers fueling their jets. Ageless superstar Alex Ovechkin again leads his team with 46 goals to date as the Caps are coming off a run of 4 x 4+ goals for. This was Leafs Nation’s first look at them at Scotiabank Arena in 2 ½ years.
Mathews/Marner hype aside, Toronto had Jack Campbell back between the pipes, Muzzin in/Justin Holl out, Simmonds and Clifford in/ Abruzzo and Spezza out. The Leafs were 7-1-1 in their last 9 and defeated this same Caps squad 5-3 back in February.
Michael Bunting got back to scoring with his 21st to break the ice with his first in 17 games. A dream pass from Marner and a secondary assist from Matthews (his 100th point) made it so. Now a stalwart, Mark Giordano set up a bullet for William Nylander to make it 2-0. There is no place in hockey for the shot to the head of SOUP by Tom Wilson ! Coach Keefe waited (and waited) for the referee team to come over and explain to him what the decision making process was on that play, prior to the start of the second period.
John Carlson got the Caps back in it early with his 15th of the season. 11 seconds later (now becoming a favorite) Ilya Lyubushkin got his first as a Leaf in a very timely manner. Nylander scooped in some back door garbage for his 30th which also netted Mo Reilly his 300th career assist. A real nice tilt between Kyle Clifford and the evil Tom Wilson necessitated some Leafs Nation vigour, that later resulted in Bunts 2nd of the night (3 Leaf goals in 4 minutes) to make it 6-1. The aforementioned Wilson made it 6-2 with less than a minute left.
After the middling performance vs Buffalo on Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs can take some solace after a real solid performance against a real playoff team. Ilya Mikheyev took a beauty breakaway pass from his Russian pal Ilya Lyubushkin (and Tavares) to score his 17th and seal the deal. Some 4th line persistence from the Caps allowed Dowd to make it a final at 7-3.
HOPPER NOTES: Not a lot of work for Soup tonight but he was there when necessary…real nice game from Bunts (3rd star)…Mikheyev reminds me of the much hated (and admired) Ilya Yakachev (# 15) of the 72 Russian team – something about the way they skate…my handsome (and now svelte) friend Glennie and I seem to agree on the progress of Pierre Engvall…guys (I hate) that I wish were on my team: Tom Wilson…where’s Gord Miller been these days – hope he’s OK…the LEAFS 9 points in their last 12 games is pretty hard to argue with…
CHEERS – Take care of the ones you love in sickness and in health !
Wow..high praise for Mikheyev..!!! The man can skate.
If he ever starts scoring regularly The Leafs won’t be able to afford him.
Handsome and svelte…I like that👍
I am having trouble watching hockey now that The Jays are on.
Need the regular season to end..bring on some playoffs.