Maple Leafs 5, Caps 4 (shootout)
The Caps have had a few ugly games this season. But I’m not sure they’ve left the ice feeling more disappointed than after Monday’s loss to Toronto. Simple fact: You go up by three goals at any time in the third period of an NHL game and you should win. Washington didn’t. Read our game story here for the details.
This isn’t a new issue, of course. One of the Caps’ main goals this season was to find a way to secure late leads. Too often last season they turned sloppy when comfortably ahead. Tonight a pretty solid effort disappeared as their play slipped over the final 10 minutes – a few missed scoring chances certainly hurt – and the Leafs took advantage with a pair of late goals en route to the shootout victory.
“I talked [before the third period] about what [Toronto] did and that they were not going to quit,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “And they believe in themselves now a little bit and they were going to come out in the third period to take the lead. We barely snuck by them last time. So it was something we were well aware of.”
That “last time” was Nov. 3 when Washington was up 3-1 in the third period on Toronto and gave up three goals in 3 minutes, 3 seconds. They won that one in a shootout anyway. On Nov. 5 against Boston the Caps were up 3-0 in the third period and allowed three goals in a 6:44 stretch. They won that one thanks to a late goal by defenseman John Carlson and an empty-netter. Washington has also been victimized by pulled-goalie goals from Atlanta (33 seconds left) and Carolina (3 seconds left).
“Washington got a little sloppy towards the end,” said Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson. “I think they thought the game was over, but we kept on playing and took advantage of some of their miscues in their end.”
Caps defenseman Tom Poti and forward Matt Hendricks would have agreed with that assessment. Both men echoed what their coach said a few minutes later in his own post-game session with the media.
“It’s not supposed to happen,” Boudreau said.
The loss overshadowed the performance of center Mathieu Perreault. Boudreau was succinct on Monday morning when asked what the 22-year-old center – recalled from AHL Hershey on Monday morning – needed to show to finally stick in the NHL.
Consistency, energy and professionalism are his buzzwords. Perreault is on his fifth stint with Washington in 13 months – none of the previous four lasting longer than 13 games. It was just one night and Perreault has put together short bursts of brilliance before. But his two-goal night – the first of his career – was a nice start. Perreault was given the chance to play on the second line, centering Brooks Laich and Alex Semin as Washington continues to search for an answer at that spot. We’ll see if that continues on Thursday against the Florida Panthers.
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