Post-Game Report: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Washington Capitals 12/9/11

From the moment the puck was dropped, Capitals fans everywhere had to have been wondering if the Caps were able to bring their momentum from the 5-3 win over Ottawa back to the Verizon Center.

Following their 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, it seems that the Caps do, indeed, have a good deal of momentum behind them for the first time in a while.

The good:

This season, power -play opportunities have come and gone many times for the Caps. After going a lengthy period without a single PPG, the Caps managed to finally put one up Wednesday against Ottawa. Against the Maple Leafs, the Caps managed to go 4/6 on the PP.

Dennis Wideman had a hand in all of the Caps' goals, scoring two PPGs himself and assisting on the other two.

Without a doubt, the Caps seemed to have come full circle with their power play.

Ovechkin continued to show the passion that Caps fans had been missing in recent weeks, evidenced by the massive hit on Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf early in the game. He had quite a few good scoring chances, most notably in the last five minutes of the first period. Ovechkin rushed in as part of a 3-2 against Toronto and then shortly after made his way around Toronto’s defense with some fancy stick work, only to have his backhand shot stopped by Reimer.

He also played strong defense, especially when the Leafs were dominating the Caps’ zone early in the third period.

Dale Hunter’s penalty-kill philosophy seems to be working wonders. From what I understand, Hunter’s policy is that the players take 30-second shifts while on the PK. It seems to be working, because the Caps completely shut down the Leafs’ first PP opportunity and managed to kill of their only other opportunity.

The bad:

Alexander Semin. His play is disappointing. Semin took an unnecessary hooking penalty and showed no drive or motivation until about 10 minutes into the third period. Personally, I’d like nothing more than to ship off Semin to Calgary in return for Jarome Iginla.

Despite making a handful of brilliant saves, Tomas Vokoun seemed rather shaky all night. In my opinion, this is something temporary that can be partially attributed to the entire team having its confidence shaken over the last few weeks. 

What the Caps need to work on next time:

Yes, the Caps managed to kill off Toronto’s only two power-play opportunities. However, the Leafs managed a few good scoring chances on their second PP. More so than anything, they turned around the momentum in those two minutes and posted a goal shortly after their PP expired.

Hunter’s new PK philosophy is something that may take some getting used to, but it seems that the Caps are adjusting well to it.

In addition to Dale Hunter’s new approach to the PK, it seems that the Caps are doing better at adjusting to Hunter’s more defense-oriented strategy. About a year ago, the Caps began to play a more defensive-minded game.

If they can continue to properly adjust to Hunter’s balance between offense and defense, they should be able to take back the Southeast Division from Florida.

Conclusion:For the Washington Capitals, this game was all about momentum and morale. For the second straight game, the Caps managed to come out victorious with a two-goal lead.

With a strong presence on both the power play and penalty kill tonight, I’m sure that the Caps are very happy with the way this game turned out.

In addition, tonight saw Dale Hunter record his third win as Capitals coach, bringing his record to 3-3.

Player of the night:

Dennis Wideman had one hell of a night. Possibly one of the best of his career. It had seemed that he would be the first Caps defenseman to score a hat-trick since Sergei Gonchar in 2000, but one of the goals he was credited with was corrected and is now credited as a goal for Brooks Laich. Regardless, Wideman had a stellar four point game and continues to prove why he is a valuable defenseman, especially on the PP.