Caps fans got excited Tuesday when they saw that rookie Ryan Leonard was back in the lineup. Leonard had been out since Dec. 5 after getting injured by Anaheim’s Jacob Trouba. The injury came just as Leonard was starting to get hot, as he recorded his first 4-point game against San Jose with two goals and two assists.
“I’ve never missed games before,” Leonard said about the injury after the game, and credited the trainers with getting his. “It sucks.”
With Tom Wilson out of the lineup against the Rangers, it was Leonard’s time to shine, but his game didn’t start out so great, however, as he took an early four-minute penalty with a high stick against Jonny Brodzinski. The Caps killed the penalty, fortunately, and early in the second period, Leonard assisted on John Carlson’s goal from the point.
Later in the period, Leonard’s crafty skating got him a breakaway. Though he didn’t score, he drew a penalty, though there was some question if he should have had a penalty shot.
“I asked the ref about it,” Leonard said after the game. “It was controversial if it should’ve been a penatly shot. They kinda said maybe, but we’re never gonna say no to a power play.”
Three minutes later, Leonard assisted on Dylan Strome’s goal, which took a replay to verify, but two assists and a drawn penalty in less than ten minutes of ice time isn’t bad for a player returning from injury.
Coach Spencer Carbery was a bit more critical of Leonard’s play, noticing he was a bit ‘rusty’ as he missed some reads he chalked up to missing time.
The two assists gave Leonard 20 points, in his 30th game of the season. According to the team, only two Caps rookies in the past 40 years have required fewer games to reach 20 points in a season: Alex Ovechkin (19 GP in 2005-06) and Peter Bondra (24 GP in 1990-91). Leonard is in great company.
