bruise boudreau says that the -- bruce boudreau said that the toronto team competes. they hit hard.struck first, hagman answered in the second. 13:13 to go in regulation. beagles with a run run there. and hagman explodes from center. niklas hagman with a wrister, surrounded by varlamov as he has some company in the crease. it's all jason blake knocking big stumble nichol over his goal tender. i don't think anything will transpire here. no penalty will be called >> joe: maple leafs have lost five straight but you would not know it by this one. they are giving the top raged caps a tough go. . >> reporter: dodge game summary. goalies trying to outdo each other. >> craig: they have been dominating this hockey game. alex ovechkin knocks his 15th goal of the season, one behind danny heatley for the nhl league. they need another one for the third for the caps and ovie to skate with the win. the top guy is varlamov as he gets set to. 13 to play in this third period, deadlocked at 1. kaberle, elusive along the blue line t is fun to watch him work >> craig: you have to so poise and he has a h

bruce boudreau bemoaned the fact that they could not get their legs going. and it was not until the third period that they got it going. i thrut it was the same tonight >> alan: they didn't they were fatigued tonight. whereas last night they were not. right from the start of the game, you know, they just weren't ready to compete. they are not skating the puck in the zone enough. ovechkin makes a pass when he should have taken the puck to the net. i thought, you know, bad decisions at the blue line, offsides continuously and a dump by mike green. it was way too easy for the toronto maple leafs to get the puck out of the zone at the start of the game. all of a sudden, they start to figure out when they realized they would get the puck. great pass and great goal by ovechkin off the green pass. and, you know, once they started to do that, they came out are the start of the second period and started to get odd man rushes. backstrom gets the shot, goes wide with t ovechkin, same shift, gets it up to backstrom. backstrom spips and shoots off the net. this happens n

when they stick to the game plan, when they are did i palestineed, do the things that bruce boudreauto do like they did tuesday night in new york, they can be among the best in the nhl. when they get away from it, despite the injuries and the slow start last night, that dooms them. when they don't play that 60- minute game like they did last night, they can get themselves in unneeded trouble. >> gentlemen, let's take a big picture look at the first two months and break out your red pen. locker, let's start with the washington capitals on offense >> craig: that's an a, joe. not just a for alex ovechkin but a because they press so well offensively. only san jose has more goals than this caps bunch. after that, it's balance, four guys with 20 plus points >> joe: i give them high marks because they score early and late. i like the fact that they have been with the league leader all season long, especially in the first and third period. the game is not all about offense. let's break down the d in the first two months >> craig: not as good when it comes to grading the defense. they have be

. >> joe: bruce boudreau putting up a protest. referees tonight, before tonight the power play had blank in five of the last six. they got one tonight. steckel looking for a shorthanded chance. the power play stats packaged by the ups store. >> craig: bruce was upset. i'm not sure he thought giroux got a piece of him. looks like the guy stumbled after he hit him with his stick. >> joe: andrei bergeron sets sale. this one through center looking to plekanec. plekanec deals it in. cammalleri along the dasher board crunched by green. mara back into the corner. green on the intercept and gets it out. >> craig: cammalleri is a key guy for the canadiens. first two periods, over 16 minutes. >> joe: cammalleri double teamed there. green with a take away. another penalty. this time it's holding >> craig: and bruce is going livid on the bench. not happy with the last call. now he won't be happy with this call. the opposition is going to their third 5 on 3 this season against the caps and here is cammalleri. here comes the brooks laich stick.

in fact, at one point boudreau said alter's play was fabulous.ort getting back with jurcina and they performed very well. >> joe: they wanted to ease into it with it will be milan's first game back. made all the simple plays. mike green doing that. rewinding for backstrom. he has ovechkin to the left. ovechkin fires and scores! an absolute dart! >> craig: and carey price still doesn't see the puck. it went right under the back bar and in. i thought it was still stuck in there. the linesman hasn't even got it out yet. and carey price is still looking for it, but it's behind the middle bar. it went in so fast past the blocker's side. alex ovechkin has his18 of the season. a great isolation, and that is everything into that baby. here it comes. and there it is. and look where it sits there. i love that. right there in the middle of the back of the net. the goalie looking around, hoping he could find it, joe, and thought maybe it hit the post and i got lucky. that's not the case. the caps have called a time out. the caps up by a pair. jacques martin

. >> one thing we know about bruce boudreau is he is true to his word.t take a goalie 20 games or so to grab the reigns. looks like semyon varlamov is doing that. >> he is, joe. getting his fourth straight start. he has really been the man for the capitals. he has been terrific between the pipes, 25 saves the other night against the buffalo sabres. whether long range changes. stop attempts or roy on the doorstep. he seemed to have an answer. with young goalies it's all about positioning and setup and he has been picture-perfect for this 'caps team. >> his marks in the month of november have sparkled league wide. >> 4-1, stopped 197 at 209 shots in the seven games. 9 943 when it comes to the save percentage department. he is looking forward to this game tonight and he has to be calm against this canadiens team. >> let's analyze the caps top two centers. the guy in the second slot is outplaying the number one. >> you're talking morrison versus backstrom. they're two guys going different ways. morrison, he's had more complimentary players play with him, mor