Washington played a tight game against the Maple Leafs and came away with the victory in the post game skills competition. Mike Knuble scored the lone goal in the fourth round of the shootout to win the contest. Knuble calmly skated in a fired a wrist shot past Toronto goalie James Reimer who had stopped 39 of 41 Capitals shots on the night. On the other end Michal Neuvirth picked up win number 27 stopping 19 of 21 shots in the game and 4 of 4 in the shootout. The Capitals defense played well allowing only 21 shots on the net and blocking another 18. The Leafs got on the board first with a power play goal that was fired though a screen that Neuvirth saw too late to react. The Capitals responded with a 5-on-3 power play goal from Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin one-timed a huge blast from the left point into the top of the net. It was the 300th goal of his 473 game NHL career. The laefs retook the lead in the second period on a cross ice pass to the right post that Neuvirth couldn't reach. The Capitals response came from an unlikely source. Big John Erskine got a rolling puck at the left point and fired a slap shot in the general vicinity of the net. Fortunately for Erskine the puck bounced off of a Leafs defender and into the net to tie the game at 2-2. The rest of the game saw the Leafs and Caps battle back and fourth with the Caps pumping shot after shot onto the Toronto net while the Caps defense limited the Leafs chances. Neuvirth had to made several good saves when called upon. Alex Ovechkin had an excellent chance when his wrist shot eluded Reimer but the goalie got enough of a redirect that it went off the post and out. The Capitals have two games remaining with a home and home series with the Florida Panthers.
Of Note:
The Capitals have scored 3 power play goals in the last 2 games but the penalty killers have let in 2 over the same span.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 300th career goal and loves playing the Leafs where in 23 career games he has 23 goals.
Brooks Laich, Marco Sturm, Matt Bradley and Matt Hendricks each had an assist in the game.
The only Caps not to record at least one shot in the game were Bradley and Sturm. Ovechkin led the team with 7 shots on goal along with 6 missed shots and 4 blocked.
Jeff Schultz, Scott Hannan and John Carlson each had 3 blocked shots for the defense.
I find it a bit odd that the official score sheet shows the Leafs out hitting the Caps 50 to 25. It sure didn't look that way during the game. Hometown scorer I guess.
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