Martin Erat and Mike Green both had plenty to smile about tonight, with two points apiece (All Photos Credit: M. Richter).
The Toronto Maple Leafs rolled into Verizon Center on a pretty solid high note: 7-1-2 in their last ten games. Unfortunately, no streak lasts forever. Tonight, the Capitals had the pleasure of being the team to deliver the bad news and knock the Leafs down a notch or two, by way of a brutal 5-1 thrashing.
Featured in tonight’s throw down were recent-acquisition Martin Erat’s first goal as a Capital (and the game-winner!), Alex Ovechkin‘s gorgeous one-timer on the power play, and the kind of goaltending fans have come to expect from Braden Holtby (29 saves). Coach Adam Oates has now been quoted in half of the Caps blogosphere endorsing Ovechkin as top candidate for League MVP (I know, we’re all shocked by the assessment).
In contrast, Toronto’s goaltender Ben Scrivens showed his rust (5 goals in 37 shots), while his teammates were visibly feeling the effects of back-to-back games as the clock wore down. In lieu of a highly technical breakdown, filled with abbreviations and snazzy numbers, I give you the night’s honor roll & a photographic storyboard of goals scored.
Honor Roll of Scoring (Chronological Order):
- 1. Jack Hillen (Chimera, Fehr)
- 2. Martin Erat (Ovechkin, Carlson)
- 3. Troy Brouwer (Carlson, Erat)
- 4. Alexander Ovechkin (Green, Ribeiro) – PP
- 1 (Leafs) – Mikhail Grabovski (Hamilton, Komarov)
- 5. Marcus Johansson (Green, Ribeiro) – PP