I was at the game last night.
The entire game turned on the Toronto PP where they held Eller's stick when he had the chance to clear, and nothing was called. The 3rd Toronto goal was an immediate result. Then we put on the pressure but couldn't get anything by Anderson, and the predictable result, we get caught on the other end for the 4th goal. But losing 3-2 and losing 4-2 isn't any different.
Believe it or not, Burakovsky was one of the better Caps' forwards last night. He is one who can skate with Toronto and last night's game was his type of game. But he had nothing to show for it. He just seems to be this guy who goes through these spells where he gets no production whether he's playing poorly or playing well (and I admit, he does a lot of both.) Then he'll get in a spell where things start to go in for him. Who knows? I will say that the guy who looks discombobulated thus far this season is Eller. I think the Caps switched Stephenson and Connolly to reunite the Bura/Eller/Connolly line and hopefully get them going.
Toronto reminds me a lot of the Caps from 10 years ago. They want to push the play and they do get caught up ice. They now have the top center combo in the league -- I mean, that is two #1 draft choices there, and two CLEAR #1's in their draft years. But I don't know, come playoff time, if they have the team balance to get it done. A deadline addition on defense is probably critical for them.
I suspect you are going to see a lot of ebb and flow in the Caps' game this season, especially if they fall out of contention for the Metro Division and are playing for a lower playoff seed. It's like the recent Penguins -- they have trouble concentrating early in the season and have gotten some ugly outcomes as a result.
