There are good one-point games, and there are bad one-point
games. The Washington Capitals might have seen what was unfolding in their game
against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, victimized once more by a goal scored on a
high deflection that went to video review, watched as shot after shot…after
shot… was turned away by Leafs goalie James Reimer, and crumbled late.
They did not. The one
goal was all they would allow, and their incessant shelling of the Toronto net
paid a dividend late to get the Caps to overtime. The Maple Leafs won the game in the freestyle
competition, 2-1, but all things considered this was not a bad point for the
Caps to earn.
The deflection came on a power play mid-way through the
second period when David Clarkson set up in front of the Caps net, gave Tyson
Strachan a subtle shove to get some separation and get his arms free, then got
his stick up to deflect a drive by Jake Gardiner down and past goalie Braden
Holtby to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
It almost stood up.
Toronto outshot the Caps, 7-6, after the Clarkson goal to close the
second period, but the Caps poured it on in the third period. Through the first 15 minutes of the period the
Caps outshot the Leafs, 15-4, but Reimer was up to the task and turned all 15
away. Then, with the clock approaching
the 16 minute mark of the period, Mike Green took control of the puck at the
Capitals’ blue line and started up the right side. After taking a couple of strides, he lifted a
soft dump-in that hit the ice in front of defenseman Dion Phaneuf, but not
within a stick’s reach. The puck stuck
like a sand wedge on the 18th green, almost sitting up for Alex
Ovechkin to one-time it past Phaneuf, past Reimer, off iron, and in to tie the
game.
That would do it for the hockey portion of the evening’s
scoring, leaving it to the Gimmick. In
the bonus round Eric Fehr and James van Riemsdyk exchanged goals, which it
where things stood until the fourth round.
Joffrey Lupul scored, Troy
Brouwer did not, and the Leafs had the extra point in the standings.
Other stuff…
-- If you are keeping score, the Caps have now gone 215:33
since a player other than Alex Ovechkin recorded a goal. For the record, that would be John Carlson at
the 9:27 mark of the second period in the Caps’ 4-1 win over St. Louis last
Sunday.
-- The 50 shots on goal for the Caps was the most in a game for
the club since they had 52 in a 4-3 loss to Dallas on March 8, 2010. Ovechkin had two goals in that game.
-- That is the sixth time in 24 games the Caps have scored
fewer than two goals.
-- Ovechkin did not have a shot attempt over the first 25
minutes of the game. He had 10 attempts
(six on goal) in the last 40 minutes.
-- Mikhail Grabovski had two new linemates tonight – Eric Fehr
(who hadn’t played since November 2nd) and Troy Brouwer (who had only
17 shots on goal since November 2nd). Fehr finished with five shots on goal (12
attempts), and Brouwer finished with five shots on goal (seven attempts). Grabovski had two shots of his own on five
attempts and a few dozen stitches, courtesy of David Clarkson’s skate blade to
the cheek and nose.
-- If you do the math, the Caps averaged one shot attempt per
38.6 seconds of this game (101 attempts
in 65 minutes). They had as many of
their attempts blocked (28) and Toronto had shot on goal (28). Eleven of the Caps’ 18 skaters had five or more
shot attempts, led by Fehr (12) and John Carlson (12).
-- James Reimer got the first star, and he deserved it. He
was the first Toronto goalie to face 50 shots in a game since Vesa Toskala
faced 52 in a 3-2 overtime loss to New Jersey on March 3, 2009. He is the first Maple Leaf to win a game in
which he faced 50 or more shots since Ed Belfour faced 53 shots in a 5-4 win
over Boston on October 24, 2005. But it
was not as if Braden Holtby was leftover poutine out there. His 27 saves on 28 shots was his fifth best
effort, save percentage wise (.964), of the season, lifting him into a tie for
14th with Cory Schneider of the New Jersey Devils at .925 for the
season.
-- The other side of the shots ledger was the Caps allowing
only 28 shots on goal in 65 minutes. It was the first
time in five games that they held an opponent to less than 30 shots on goal and
only the fourth time this season in 24 games.
They are 1-2-1 in those games.
-- There was a fair amount of smack talk going around in the
social media over Grabovski’s performance (he did not record a point in his
return to Toronto), but in addition to making his new linemates look good in terms
of opportunities, he won seven of nine offensive zone draws, too.
-- The Caps went 0-for-3 on the power play. That leaves them 4-7-1 in games in which they
do not score on the man advantage.
-- Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin in the shootout, we
get. Eric Fehr and Troy Brouwer? One had not played in three weeks and had not
attempted a trick shot this season, the other had only one shootout attempt
(successful). Oates took his chances and
came up 1-for-2, Fehr scoring, Brouwer denied.
In the end, this game probably would look a lot better if
the Caps had not lost two games at home before taking the road to Toronto. Taken on its own merits it is not a bad
loss. They “played” well, dominating
possession for long stretches of the game, even if their shooting was not
rewarded. They kept after it, scored
late, and earned a point it looked for 55 minutes that they would be frustrated
from getting.
Having said that, now the Caps return home for games against
Ottawa and Montreal on Thanksgiving week after they get the next three days off
from game hockey. Good will from a
hard-earned point in a game like this has a shelf life. They need to get back to winning these games.
