Caps light up Maple Leafs, 5-2, in outdoor game
ANNAPOLIS, MD. — T.J. Oshie found a moment of tranquility as he stared through the darkness and into the crowd at fans holding their cellphones up to light up the stadium.
It will go down in the standings as a 5-2 victory by his Washington Capitals over the Toronto Maple Leafs. But for Oshie and the American players on the winning side of the first NHL outdoor game at the U.S. Naval Academy, the first at a service academy, the two points are great, but the meaning was more significant.
The Capitals put on a special performance at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium under the lights that went out because of a power surge with 10 minutes left. A 15-minute delay did nothing to stem the tide of Washington’s win, that included Alex Ovechkin’s 40 goal of the season and 598th of his career.
Ovechkin became the sixth player in NHL history with nineplus 40-goal seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (12), Marcel Dionne (10), Mario Lemieux (10), Mike Gartner (nine) and Mike Bossy (nine).
“Forty is good, but 50’s better,” Ovechkin said. “I still have time to do that.”
The offensive fireworks of the first two periods — including three goals in the first 6:19 — matched the pomp and circumstance of the NHL’s first game at a U.S. service academy. Navy midshipmen and Canadian servicemen and women took part in a patriotic pregame ceremony capped off by a memorable flyover with only the afterburners visible against the night sky.
In one of the best-themed outdoor games to date, the game was played on a rink on top of a facsimile of an aircraft carrier with a replica jet stationed in one corner. Capitals coach Barry Trotz wore a dark Navy cap with a gold “N’’ on the front as he stood in front of the lit up names of several battles, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Playing in windy conditions that kept teams from practising on the rink before the game, the Capitals didn’t appear at all bothered by the significant change from indoor hockey. The wind blew about 16-20 m.p.h. throughout the night, but the difference in play was more significant than the weather with the Capitals beating the Maple Leafs in a rematch of their first-round playoff series.
“They look at us and they still think we’re kids,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “And it looked like we were kids here tonight. I thought they smacked us around.”
Washington’s power play went 2-for-2, and five goals on 25 shots was enough to chase Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen 11:10 into the second. It’s the fourth straight game and eighth of the past nine in which Andersen allowed three-plus goals, and his eighth overall giving up five or more. But this was the first time coach Mike Babcock pulled him for his play this season.
“It was going in,” Babcock said. “And I didn’t want to leave him in there and be a bunch more go in.” NOTES: Curtis McIlhenney stopped all nine shots he faced in relief of Andersen . ... The goldmedal-winning U.S. Olympic men’s curling team delivered the puck for the ceremonial faceoff by curling it to centre ice. The gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team was also honoured . ... The Maple Leafs play in Buffalo Monday.