10/29/2007 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Ovechkin scored twice as the Washington Capitals embarrassed the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-1, at Air Canada Centre.
Already playing without captain Chris Clark and leading defenseman Tom Poti, the Caps were faced with further adversity when left wing Alexander Semin went down with a recurrence of an ankle injury on Saturday and couldn't skate against the Leafs.
It didn't matter, however, as Ovechkin carried the load and now has four goals and five assists in his last four games.
Boyd Gordon, Matt Pettinger, Jeff Schultz, Matt Bradley and Brian Sutherby all notched their first goals of the season, allowing Washington to post five wins in the month of October for the first time since 2001.
Bradley added a pair of helpers, while Pettinger and Gordon each had one apiece. Michael Nylander also chipped in with three assists and Olaf Kolzig made 32 saves as the Caps snapped a two-game skid and won for just the second time in eight games after starting the season 3-0.
"When your teammates give you a lead like that, that puts you in a huge comfort zone," said Kolzig. "We needed that win. We haven't played this well as a team since the first couple games of the season. We had a meeting as a team after the game in St. Louis (on Saturday). We had to settle down, clean things up in our own end and play a better game defensively."
Alexei Ponikarovsky had the lone tally for Toronto, which has also been beset by injuries, playing minus the services of top defenseman Bryan McCabe and young center Kyle Wellwood.
Vesa Toskala had a dreadful night between the pipes, allowing four goals on just 13 shots before he was lifted with six minutes to play in the first period. Andrew Raycroft came on in a mop-up roll and didn't fare any better, allowing three goals on 17 chances as the Leafs had a two-game win streak halted.
"It was close at first but we got a lot of bad bounces," said Leafs defenseman Ian White. "Little things piled up and in this league when you don't play well defensively the other teams make you pay for it."
The onslaught started just 3:19 into the contest, as Gordon made a nifty move, chipping a feed from Bradley past a stunned Toskala with his back to the net.
Toronto tied it up just 31 second later as Jason Blake dropped the puck down low to Mats Sundin, who then dished to Ponikarovsky in front. The left winger, camped just off the crease, easily knocked home the disc to make it a 1-1 game.
Washington used a power-play tally to claim the lead for good less than two minutes later, however, as Viktor Kozlov had a shot bounce off the shoulder of Toskala before Pettinger banged in the rebound at 5:26.
Ovechkin's howitzer from the left faceoff dot made it 3-1 at 11:57, while Schultz helped to built a 4-1 margin when he wristed a soft shot past the glove of Toskala, ending the netminder's evening.
Bradley continued the rout with 11:03 remaining in the second, scoring a short-handed goal after a turnover by Blake, who coughed up the puck in the neutral zone. Bradley pounced on the loose disc, charged over the blueline and blasted a slapshot through the five-hole of Raycroft for a 5-1 cushion.
Ovechkin then lit the lamp for the second time at with 8:51 remaining in the stanza, one-timing a pass from the top of the left circle through the legs of Raycroft with the Caps skating on the man-advantage at 11:09.
A three-way passing play culminated with Sutherby's goal a little more than six minutes into the third, giving Washington a sizeable 7-1 lead.
Game Notes
The short-handed tally was the first of Bradley's career...The Caps have won three of their last five visits to Toronto...Ovechkin has nine goals and 11 points in nine career contests against the Leafs...Washington finished 2-for-5 on the power play, while Toronto didn't score on any of its five chances...Schultz's goal was the first of his NHL career...Toskala was making his first career appearance against Washington.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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