Official Game Stats (click here)

TSD Caps vs. Leafs: Scouting report

The Good:

·         The Caps played their game and Toronto had no answer

·         The goals are coming from the areas where guys are paying the price
·         Except for small lapses the defense looks a lot tighter than last season
·         The Caps dominated the center of the ice even though Wilson stressed taking it away
·         If Brooks Laich keeps scoring we are going to have to change his first name to Alexander

The Bad:

·         The Caps let up and allowed Toronto to inch back in the third period. The Caps need to develop a killer instinct when they have their foot on an opponent’s throat.
·         Brooks Laich in his post game comments talked about bad habits creeping back into the Caps. They have to take better care of the puck in their own zone.
·         Varly played well but there were some things he could tighten up

Goaltending:

Toronto - In the scouting report (linked above) one of the tidbits was how short the hook was for Vesa Toskala. I guess we got our answer tonight. With the exception of Ovechkin’s goal I thought he played well. The good thing for Toskala is his replacement did not fare any better.

Washington - Semyon Varlamov played very well. The kick save early in game was very impressive. The three goals in the third were more a product of the Caps not finishing hard as a team.

Summary:

The Caps played about as well as a team could play for 40 minutes and that was more than enough to do away with the Maple Leafs. The score does not accurately portray the dominance of the Caps.

The TSD Player of the Game:  Brooks Laich

The TSD Unit of the Game: Penalty Kill Units

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