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Capitals vs. Leafs Recap: Andersen Zips Washington

Frederik Andersen blanks Washington in 2 to 0 in Capitals’ second straight loss.

By Geoff Thompson
Toronto Maple Leafs v Washington Capitals Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Capitals faced off against Toronto for the first time since Marcus Johansson ended the Maple Leafs’ season on April 24th. But tonight was Toronto’s time as they handed Washington a 2 to 0 loss at home behind perfect play from Frederik Andersen.

Here's Tuesday night's Plus/Minus:

Plus: The Maple Leafs have a high octane offense and the Capitals defense (alongside clean up from Braden Holtby) held them to a single goal against. After the outing in Philadelphia that has to be seen as a positive.

Minus: Toronto outplayed Washington thoroughly early. The Maple Leafs’ youthful legs had the Capitals reeling around Holtby’s crease several shifts in a row and almost tallied several times.

Ten more notes on the game.

  1. Coming off Saturday night’s disappointing loss Barry Trotz reworked his patchwork defense - pairing Madison Bowey with Brooks Orpik, Christian Djoos with John Carlson, and Dmitry Orlov alongside Taylor Chorney.
  2. Washington got settled after the first television timeout and began controlling the puck instead of chasing it. The first period would end scoreless but with both teams having a few high quality looks on net.
  3. Strong goaltending would dominate the second period with both Holtby and Andersen registering 17 saves through the first two frames.
  4. Special teams was also large in the second. Both teams worked the puck around the offensive zone with their man advantage but the penalty killing units wouldn’t yield.
  5. Jake Gardiner would wire the puck past Holtby early in the third but his blue line blast hit horizontal iron before bouncing harmlessly wide of the goal.
  6. T.J. Oshie was also shaken up in the third period after colliding with Orpik in the slot. Oshie lost his glove and was in visible discomfort but would not miss a shift.
  7. And less than five minutes later Connor Brown would tuck a loose puck under Holtby and into the net to give the Maple Leafs to 1 to 0 lead.
  8. With 21 seconds remaining Nazem Kadri would slide home a pass into an empty net to ice the contest.
  9. Tyler Graovac would leave the contest after skating only 3:19 and did not return to the game. The only immediate news available was that the Washington forward suffered an upper-body injury.
  10. During the second intermission Capitals fans were engaged on the jumbotron from inside the Etihad Airways Lounge. The lucky fellow was wearing his (obviously) lucky green Holtby jersey during the proposal and a warm ovation from Capital One Arena crowd was returned when she said yes.