Photo credit: Graig Abel

Saturday night, during the Capitals’ 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, future AHL hall-of-famer Keith Aucoin scored his first NHL goal of the season, and his first since October 24, 2009. For those who are counting, that’s 854 days.

“It’s been about two years now, I think, since I last scored a goal,” Aucoin said with a smile to The Washington Times’ Stephen Whyno. “It’s only been 10, 11 games, but it feels like forever, and it was nice to finally get one and help the team win.”

General Manager George McPhee, clearly unimpressed by his feat (or more likely saving cap space ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline), sent Aucoin back down to Hershey early this morning.

Coiner’s goal was so pretty, it deserves a closer look. Let’s set the scene. After going down 2-0 to the Caps within the first five minutes and then 3-0 by the second period, the Leafs were left scrambling to climb out of a hole. The play starts at 5:13, with the Caps in possession of the puck in their own zone.

Mike Green looks to exit their defensive zone by passing it to Marcus Johansson.

Mojo takes the pass along the boards.

And fumbles it!

Tim Connolly takes the turnover. Ugh.

And looks to wrist a shot past Neuvirth.

Green utilizes the kamikaze dive to force Connolly to deke.

Now Connolly fumbles the puck and it goes to the corner.

Matthew Lombardi retrieves the puck and sends a centering pass to…

Alex Ovechkin!

Go!

Ovi!

Go!

“Hm, looks like my boi Aucoin is guarded.”

“Let’s try pass to Mojo!”

Mojo shoots!

Just kidding!!

Reimer: “Omigosh, my defense isn’t guarding anyone.”

BAM!

“Just how Dale drew it up!”

Reimer: “Kill me now.” Leafs fan at bottom-left corner: “What in the hell was that?”

Aucoin: “So this is what it feels like to score an NHL goal again!”

And that concludes terrible hockey by both teams.

Video

The Pre-Game: Oh Lordy, we hate being right. Especially if it involves Canada. Not as in: their single-payer health care system is far more efficient than our insurance company-laden poop pie. More like: there’s no more dangerous team than an underestimated one with shelves of talent and an insane fan base. (Either way, it’s a poop pie, frankly.)

So here we are, game 3 of 3 of the road trip, landing us square in Squaresville: Toronto. (Wagging finger in old maid mode:) We warned you about those teams! We cautioned against squads whose numbers didn’t quite look right, yet had piles of skill ready to dump on the ice! What, you didn’t listen? You think you know better? Are you listening to me?

Uh, no, chances are, you’re not. At least not based on the last few Caps’ book in Vegas. We think that changes Saturday.

The Puck Drop

Rumor was, long ago, there was a rainbow in Toronto, and a pot of gold at Yonge Street. Of course, that’s before the city ripped it all up, replacing the record stores and adult theaters with Benettons and Timmy Hos. Progress.

Brian Burke

But they still have maple donuts, the CN Tower, and the Maple Leafs, led by none other than Brian Burke. Dare: go look up “truculence” online right now, and tell me that you don’t get a reference to Brian Burke. Look, we love coach Juggles; but head-t0-head against Brian Burke? We know how that comes out, and it’s got the bacony-stink of Canada all over it.

For years the Make Beliefs were a joke just somewhat above the Senators. Or below, depending on the season. But welcome to 2011, where the Toronto Maple Leafs are among the best teams in the league (10-6). Other than the furrowed brow of Burke, what brought the Leafs to this point?

What Makes Them Hot

Phil Kessel

1: What We Expected: Phil Kessel. We’ve been dealing with this gnat for years, and unfortunately he’s not fading. With a monster 25 points (13 G, 12 A), you might think he’s the cudgel the Leafs draw out whenever it’s not working for them. In truth Kessel isn’t a bludgeon; he’s a game-maker. As in: he has a history of edging the Leafs out of a draw, moving them into a winning position. He’s one of those guys you hate, consistently moving his squad from tie to W. We expect no different Saturday.

Joffrey Lupul

2: What We Didn’t: Joffrey Lupul is a square-headed, 28-year-old sausage from Alberta – meaning nobody from nowhere. Yet he’s proving this season he can play with the big boys (which, at 206, he qualifies for.) He’s 11th in the league for goals, and 10th for overall points, which means while Kessel can’t dig the Leafs out of a hole, Lupul likely can. And to top it off, he’s smokin. We hate you Joffrey Lupul. Please call us.

3: Toronto Heat: You ever take a look at the Leafs bench? What is that, “Twilight” stand-ins? OhMyGod, we love our Caps but if you’re just trawling around the web – not like we ever do that – looking for studly hockey players, go no further than Toronto. And they’re good payers, so just relax. We realize this makes some of you uncomfortable (or at least, you say it does) and it has nothing to do with play on the ice. But remember: we called the last two games, and we’re just a couple sissyboys, so give credit where it’s due.

4: We Miss You Stecks! Sure, he may have waffled on Brad’s diss on Sasha, but…we still love you!

What Makes Them Not:

1: It’s Not You, It’s Me: The Capitals fairly leaped off the bench at the start of the season, but seem to be hitting a slow patch. Nicky’s performing better than last year, but Green’s absence has hurt the team, and Vokoun – always a slow starter – is proving unusually slow. Slouches always happen, but ours of late seem to be concentrated on the road. Also, we’re still a better come-from-behind team, which means you need your clutch players like Wideman, Ward, Knuble and others in a pinch. We’d rather see less white-knuckling.

Ben Scrivens

2: Options Open: Burke’s been fairly clear: he’s not spectacularly happy with his netminders. Jonas Gustavsson and Ben Scrivens have both been a disappointment this year, and, despite his age, James Reimer is basically a rookie – and by his numbers, always will be (.912 Sv% 2.58 GAA). Do the Leafs need better goal-tending? Obviously. Is Burke looking around for just that? Apparently. But no-one at this point wants to talk about the obvious: these guys have to go if the Leafs are going to move forward.

 3: Who’s Your Daddy? This might be shocking for Washington audiences, but do you know who owns the Maple Leafs? No, not a billionaire nor an investment house conglomerate. It’s the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. Serious. They own a significant majority in the team enterprise, but now a new group (possibly lead by The Great One) wants ownership. Nothing like success to bring out the weasels. And nothing like corporate bullies to ruin a good team. Redskins, anyone?

Predition: Caps 4, Leafs 2.

Four on Four OT

Jeff Halpern

So OK, we sorta knew this already, but we’re just going to ask it for giggles. When did Jeff Halpern get so blazing hot? Perhalpy about 10 years ago, when character starts to bleed into a man’s face. Or maybe he was just born with it. Maybe it’s fatherhood. Whatever: Halpy looks you in the eye – whether you’re a dork hockey fan or a Hadeed carpet commercial camera or, we imagine, an opponent. He’s been bloody good this year, taking and making hits, setting up draws when he can, or just out-maneuvering the other team. We’ll just stick with bloody good.

The Shoot Out

We’ve heard through various channels that some of you, specifically a small, vocal subsection, have taken hurt at some of our jibes in our previews. We understand words can hurt. It’s never our intention to lacerate; merely jest. However, if some of our words have cut, remember that words can heal, too. We apologize. Now grow a pair and get on with it.

Neuvy celebrates with his teammates after coming up victorious in the shootout. (Photo credit: Graig Abel)

What can’t Knuble do? (Photo credit: Graig Abel)

In their first game of the final back-to-back of the season, the Capitals found themselves in Air Canada Centre to face the surging Toronto Maple Leafs. Since the All-Star break, the Leafs have gone a ridiculous and improbable 18-7-5, riding mid-season call-up James Reimer’s (Oops, sorry!) Optimus Reim‘s incredible goaltending back into playoff contention.

Unfortunately for the Leafs, their chances of still making the playoffs were about as likely as Jason Chimera having a 50 goal season: less than one percent. To stave off mathematical elimination for one more night, they had to have either a regulation or overtime win against DC and a loss from Buffalo.

“They have to have every point,” winger Brooks Laich explained to the media after the Capitals pre-game skate. “They have to have every point in regulation the next three games and then hope for the best. This is an elimination game for the Leafs and they’re going to show us their absolute best.

Toronto certainly came out hard, as Nikolai Kulemin tallied the game’s first goal — his 30th of the year — 5:37 into the first period on the power play. After the Leafs brought the puck up the ice with speed, Kulemin cut to the middle of the circles, used Karl Alzner and John Erskine as a screen and flicked a wrist-shot past a helpless Michal Neuvirth. Alex Ovechkin responded 6:49 later with his 300th career goal, blasting a power-play one-timer from inside the left circle past an overpowered Reimer.

Joffrey Lupul regained the Leafs lead in the second period, slipping past Jeff Schultz on a two on two rush and knocking home a brilliant pass from everyone’s favorite last pick in the All-Star Fantasy Draft, Phil Kessel. John Erskine — yes, John Erskine — then answered Lupul’s tally midway through the period, misfiring on a thigh-high shot from the point by nearly five feet. Lucky for Big John, it ricocheted off of Luke Schenn’s rump and into the back of the net. 2-2.

That score held up until the end of regulation. But by then, the Leafs playoff hopes had been dashed as Buffalo defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2. The Sabres victory also ironically clinched the Capitals fourth straight Southeast Division crown.

Neither team managed to score in overtime or the first three rounds of the shootout. So Bruce Boudreau turned to 38-year old Mike Knuble in the bottom of the fourth.

“I was going down the list oldest to youngest and I had Arnott up and then I looked down, I said, ‘Knuble’s older,’ so I went with him,” Boudreau explained. “There’s no science or anything involved in that tonight.”

Kanoobs went on to beat Reimer high and glove side, prompting a raucous celebration at their end of the ice with Neuvy. Caps beat Leafs, 3-2 (SO)!!

• With tonight’s win and Philadelphia’s loss, the Capitals moved into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, the Capitals would be matched up against the New York Rangers in the first round.
• In their last nine games that have gone to overtime, the Capitals have a record of 8-0-1.
• For those who missed it earlier today, Alex Semin did not travel with the team and stayed at home in Washington to rest an unspecified (wrist, wrist, wrist) injury. Via Katie Carrera: “He could play if we wanted him to play today,” Boudreau said. “I hope he’s back tomorrow but if he’s not…. hopefully it will be Saturday. If it’s not, then hopefully it will be the first game of the playoffs.” Coincidentally, the Capitals were not whistled for any stick infractions during the game.
• Rogers Sportsnet revealed during their telecast that Toronto was willing to pull their goalie in the final minutes of overtime because Buffalo held a tie-breaker over them, making a shootout victory worthless. Had there been an empty net goal in OT, it would have been only the fourth time in the modern era (1968 – 2011) that it’s happened. #fancystats
• While the Capitals held a 41-21 advantage in shots, the teams were almost even in regards to scoring chances, with Washington out-chancing Toronto, 22-17.
• The Capitals accrued five chances on the power play tonight, the most they’ve racheted up in a game since they blew out Edmonton 5-0 on March 10th (eight chances, two power play goals).
• Alex Ovechkin‘s 300th career goal was nice. But I was more impressed by the tenaciousness he exhibited throughout the entire game and how hard he competed. Ovi went through three sticks in the first period alone, broke Tyler Bozak’s ankles (figuratively speaking) with a move in the offensive zone and attempted a mind-bending 17 shots over the course of the entire game. Ovechkin also had his customary four hits. The only troubling number I saw in the final box score was Ovechkin’s TOI stat. The Russian Machine played the most minutes of all Capitals fowards (23:36).
• Ovechkin now has 23 goals in 23 career games against the Leafs.
• Despite being the most ineffective defenseman on the ice and looking like like he was skating in mud, Jeff Schultz logged heavy minutes, receiving 26 plus minutes from Bruce Boudreau. Sarge was cleanly beaten to the net by Toronto players on three different occassions, one of which led directly to Joffrey Lupul’s second period goal. If we examine his scoring chances numbers, Mr. Nasty’s awful night is even more evident. Schultz was on the ice for nine chances against — or almost half of Toronto’s chances on the night.
• Nicklas Backstrom was nine of 22 in the faceoff dot (41%) and finished a minus-one on the night. Backstrom has also gone 19 straight scoring chances without a goal. So basically, he’s due.
• Brooks Laich, Jason Chimera and Jason Arnott were each on the ice for only one even strength scoring chance apiece. However, Laich was on the ice for all five power play chances the Capitals generated and also drew a powerplay by himself after going hard to the net in the second period.
• Eric Fehr, Marcus Johansson and Marco Sturm were each on the ice for nine scoring chances for.
• The Leafs’ James Reimer was the hard luck loser tonight. He had several ten belle stops, most notably his diving two-armed save on Marcus Johansson from point-blank range.

• Okay, now I’m starting to see what Leafs fans are getting so excited about. Reimer, who is in the top five of all NHL goalies with 20 wins since the All-Star Break, also has some pretty sweet nicknames such as The Reiminister of Defense. My favorite? The statue. I’ll let Wikipedia explain: “[This nickname] resulted from head coach Wilson’s attempts to suppress the hype around the rookie goalie only a short time into his NHL career, saying “There’s all this [attention] around here, a guy wins a game and we’re ready to build a statue for him.” Awesome.
• Finally, one worrisome stat heading into the playoffs? The Capitals have given up a powerplay goal to their opponents in three of their last four games.

Joe B Suit of the Night

Tonight, the Capitals played an opponent who was in playoffs mode for 59:10 of the game. Tomorrow, they will face a team who was eliminated from the the big dance several weeks ago and has nothing to play for except for pride. If the Capitals can somehow win out Wednesday and Saturday against the Panthers, they will be the Eastern Conference’s number one seed, something that six weeks ago seemed very unlikely. Oh, the wonders of net crashing and a dedication to defense!

See you back here tomorrow night!

Additional reporting by Neil Greenberg.

The puck Ovi blasted home for his milestone marker. (Photo credit: Sergey Kocharov)

Photo credit: Graig Abel

If there was one word to define Alex Ovechkin’s game since he landed in Washington way back in 2005, it would be overpowering. Three days after assisting on Jason Arnott’s 400th career tally, the 25-year old Russian became the sixth-youngest player in NHL history to reach 300 career goals with — what else — an unstoppable blast from the point that eluded Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer on a 5-on-3 power play. It was his 31st of the season. At 25 years and 200 days, Ovechkin reached 300 goals slower than only NHL Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky (22 years, 321 days), Mario Lemieux (23, 179), Dale Hawerchuk (24, 308), Mike Bossy (25, 60) and Steve Yzerman (25, 176). Ovechkin, who already stands third on the franchise’s goal and point scoring lists in only his sixth professional season, also notched the milestone marker in his 476th NHL game, the seventh-fewest ever. Forwards Brooks Laich and Marco Sturm were credited with the assists. Video of the goal is below the jump.