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Tag: Kasperi Kapanen

  • Game Recap – 10/16/2019 – Toronto Maple Leafs v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 10/16/2019 – Toronto Maple Leafs v. Washington Capitals

    Toronto Maple Leafs (4-2-1 9pts) v. Washington Capitals (3-2-2 8pts)

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming off a bad outing against Colorado the other day for their holiday matinee, the Washington Capitals look to turn things around as they host the Toronto Maple Leafs. To start the game the Capitals would get an early powerplay when Morgan Reilly would trip Brendan Leipsic, but after several failed entry attempts it would be the Maple Leafs striking while shorthanded as Trevor Moore would feed Kasperi Kapanen to give the Leafs the early 1-0 lead. The Capitals would get a couple good chances, but the Leafs would strike again as Ilya Mikheyev would break past the defense and beat Ilya Samsonov to make it 2-0 for the Maple Leafs. After both teams traded chances, in the final 61 seconds John Carlson would draw in the Leafs and hit a beautiful seam pass to Jakub Vrana who would one time the puck past Michael Hutchison to make it 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

     

    In the second period the Capitals would build off of their late first period goal as they would score three goals in 78 seconds as Evgeny Kuznetsov would get Hutchinson out of position to slide the puck of the goal line, then Nicklas Backstrom would rip a one timer past Hutchinson to give the Capitals the 3-2 lead, and then while on a two man advantage John Carlson would blast a bullet from the point to give the Capitals the 4-2 lead. After the Capitals three goal explosion the game would go back and forth with some chances at both ends, but the Capitals would hold the Leafs off the board during the second period to keep their 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

     

    Entering the third period the Capitals would be short a forward and a defenseman as both Richard Panik and Jonas Siegenthaler would be pulled from the game due to upper body injuries.as the period went on both teams would trade powerplay opportunities, but neither would capitalize on their respective opportunities. Then, with the goalie pulled, the Maple Leafs would get back on the board as John Tavares would rip one past Ilya Samsonov, but the LEafs could not get one more as the Capitals win 4-3.

     

    Lineups:

    Toronto Maple Leafs:

    Kasperi Kapanen — John Tavares — Mitchell Marner

    Andreas Johnsson — Auston Matthews — William Nylander

    Ilya Mikheyev — Alexander Kerfoot — Trevor Moore

    Dmytro Timashov — Nicholas Shore — Frederik Gauthier

    Morgan Rielly — Cody Ceci

    Jake Muzzin — Tyson Barrie

    Martin Marincin — Justin Holl

    Michael Hutchinson

    Frederik Andersen

    Scratched: Nic Petan, Jason Spezza, Kevin Gravel

    Injured: Zach Hyman (knee), Travis Dermott (shoulder)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson

    Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway

    Brendan Leipsic — Chandler Stephenson — Richard Panik

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Radko Gudas

    Nick Jensen — Tyler Lewington

    Ilya Samsonov

    Braden Holtby

    Scratched: Nic Dowd

    Injured: Michal Kempny (hamstring)

     

    First Period:

    TOR Penalty – 2:52 – Morgan Reilly 2 minutes for Tripping

    TOR SHG – 4:37 – Kasperi Kapanen (1) from Trevor Moore (2)

    TOR Goal – 10:58 – Ilya Mikheyev (3) from Kasperi Kapanen (3) and Justin Holl (2)

    WAS Goal – 18:59 – Jakub Vrana (3) from John Carlson (10) and Garnet Hathaway (3)

     

    End of 1st

    10-16 v TOR.png

     

    Second Period:

    TOR Penalty – 1:13 – Morgan Reilly 2 minutes for Tripping

    WAS Goal – 5:07 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (3) from John Carlson (11) and Carl Hagelin (1)

    WAS Goal – 5:18 – Nicklas Backstrom (2) from TJ Oshie (2) and Nick Jensen (2)

    TOR Penalty – 5:36 – Nick Shore 2 minutes for Interference

    TOR Penalty – 5:45 – Cody Ceci 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    WAS PPG – 6:25 – John Carlson (3) from Alexander Ovechkin (3) and Nicklas Backstrom (5)

     

    End of 2nd

    10-16 v TOR-2.png

     

    Third Period:

    TOR Penalty – 10:10 – Auston Matthews 2 minutes for Slashing

    WAS Penalty – 13:04 – Carl Hagelin 2 minutes for Hooking

    TOR Goal – 17:27 – John Tavares (3) from Jake Muzzin (3)

     

    End of 3rd

    10-16 v TOR-3.png

     

    Next Up:

    Washington (4-2-2 10pts) v. NY Rangers (2-1-0 4pts)

    Toronto (4-3-1 9pts) v. Boston (5-1-0 10pts)

     

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  • Is Kasperi Kapanen the real deal?

    Is Kasperi Kapanen the real deal?

    Kapanen has been a pleasant surprise for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season so far. With Nylander holding out and the expectation so high on this team, Kapanen has taken his opportunity and ran with it.

    As it sits right now Kapanen is tied with Auston Matthews (who’s been injured for a bit) for 4th in Leafs scoring with 16 points. 9 goals and 7 assists to be exact. Now the thing about Kapanen that has the Leafs salivating is his shot, his 2-way play, his insane speed and the ability to go hard to the net and fight for pucks in the corners.

    Kapanen is one of these players where he doesn’t excel in one particular skill, but he doesn’t everything great. Not the best shooter but has good nhl shot, with good accuracy. His speed makes him a tremendous penalty killer and a threat to score 5 on 5 and shorthanded every time he’s on the ice. His grittiness is not on the level of a Tom Wilson, but make no mistakes he will finish his checks every time and battle in the corner every time for loose pucks.

    Kapanen has all the tools to be a real good NHLer. In fact when I think of Kapanen I am always drawn back to the comparison of him to Justin Williams. Watch Williams play not the greatest shot, but he’s accurate, with grit out the corners all game despite not being the biggest player. Will penalty kill for you and scores big goals.

    Kapanen is on pace for 33 goals and 20 assists and 63 points.  Which would put him as one of the Leafs top point getters and easily replace William Nylander’s points. I’m not saying who is better here. But I will state that Kapanen brings a more rounded game, a game that seemingly has very little holes in it.

    I’ve been very high on Kapanen since the Leafs acquired him from Pittsburgh in the Kessel deal. I said to many people Kapanen will be the deal breaker in the Kessel deal and right now he’s showing exactly why.

    Exciting, explosive player to watch every game. Do I believe Kasperi Kapanen is the real deal? Yes, Yes I do without a shadow of a doubt.