![]() ![]() Our guys know him, and he was here and a part of the organization for quite a while. There are lots of things that make him great, but the consistency factor and the will to power through every year - and every game - to show up and do his thing is really impressive.Ĭapitals head coach Peter Laviolette on facing Ilya Samsonov: That has been pretty evident throughout his career. With his will to score, he plays every game like it is his last night. What he has done year after year with consistency is incredible and remarkable. We are going to try to shut him down tonight, but he is a pretty tough guy to stop. It is cool that we are witnessing some pretty incredible history. Matthews on Alex Ovechkin’s 800 career goals: It is just the way he moves, skates, and thinks the game. You get another high-end player on the ice, but let’s see if we actually use it before we start making a big deal out of it.Īuston Matthews on Marner practicing as the point man on a five-forward power play in the morning skate: We need to start looking at different options. Obviously, the power play hasn’t been nearly good enough in the last month or so. We have Sandin there for a look we have used. We want to get a look at a different option. We haven’t made a decision yet on what we are going to do. Keefe on the five-forward power-play unit in the morning skate: It will be a good game against a motivated opponent. They have been outplaying teams pretty consistently here for quite a while now. ![]() They are a team that has a lot of confidence and is feeling good about their game. That is something for us to manage a little bit today. They’ll use it against our top guys, which opens up favourable matchups throughout the rest of the lineup. They have a fourth line that is as good as any in the league. Sheldon Keefe on the challenge against the Capitals: In the season-to-date statistics, the Maple Leafs hold the advantage over the Capitals in four out of five offensive categories and four out of five defensive categories. Provided Liljegren and the Leafs‘ other blue-line regulars are all good to go, the Leafs‘ lineup will remain unchanged (based on the morning skate) as they look to bounce back and start a new streak following their first regulation loss since November 11th. Sheldon Keefe also hinted this morning that there is more than one defenseman who could be a game-time decision. Liljegren is a game-time decision but probable to play tonight, with Mac Hollowell called up and flown into Washington to provide an extra body on hand. Quite familiar with injuries themselves this season, the Maple Leafs appear to have dodged a bullet with Timothy Liljegren’s hand injury suffered in Thursday’s 3-1 loss in New York - it wasn’t serious enough to keep him out of today’s morning skate. ![]() Shorter-term injuries to starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper and 20-minute-per-game defenseman Martin Fehervary have also been setbacks for the Capitals in the month of December, but they have managed to win five of their last six, all with Charlie Lindgren in net (5-1-0. Long-term injuries have plagued Washington’s forward corps this year: In addition to Backstrom (hip surgery) and Wilson (ACL surgery) missing most of the first half of the season, Connor Brown is likely out for the rest of the season (ACL surgery) and Carl Hagelin may be in the same boat (hip surgery). 500 at 15-13-4 thanks to a recent five-game winning streak that ended with the loss to Dallas on Thursday.ĭylan Strome and Conor Sheary have filled in adequately enough at the top of the lineup at C and RW, producing 24 and 19 points in 32 games, respectively, but the Capitals are eager to get those two difference-makers back in their top six. With Nick Backstrom and Tom Wilson yet to appear this season (both are nearing a return, the former sooner than the latter), the Capitals have been scrapping and clawing to remain in the hunt in the Metropolitan playoff picture in the first half of the season, currently sitting just above. Samsonov is currently the NHL leader in goals against average (1.71) and has allowed one goal on 81 shots since returning from injury on November 30, including back-to-back shutouts in his last two starts. Standing in his way tonight is an ex-teammate and fellow countryman in Samsonov, who made his Leafs debut against his former team in a 3-2 win over Washington back on October 13 in Toronto and kept Ovechkin off of the scoresheet in that matchup. ![]()
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