2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series – Washington Capitals win 5-4 against the Toronto Maple Leafs
The 165th game of the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series took place at the Verizon Centre, home of the Washington Capitals this Wednesday. The match saw 13,000 fans come to witness the match as the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals
both played the 12th game of the campaign. This was one of the thrilling matches of the season that saw both teams dominate full periods but in the end it was the Washington Capitals who were able to get their noses ahead with the score 5-4 after
shootout.
1st Period
The home team made a good start to the match as they came up with good shots that were going into the goal and only the goal keeper in their way. They displayed some excellent skills and executed their strategy perfectly. They kept possession and waited
for open spaces to form and passed. This resulted in some exciting ice hockey on display by the Washington Capitals.
The home team had several chances to take the lead but they were unable to break the deadlock. They pressed forward every now and then involving the defence in the attacks as well. This was a risk and it didn’t pay off. In fact this lead to a mistake when
they lost possession in the opposing half with all men forward. The counter lead led to a goal by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The goal was scored by Nikolai Kulemin from a powerful shot from 19 feet.
Though the Washington Capitals dominated the proceedings after falling behind but they couldn’t score. This was the case for the rest of the period as both teams went into the break with the score 1-0 in favour of the Capitals. During the course of the period,
the Capitals made 9 goal attempts and Toronto Maple Leafs made 6 goal attempts scoring once.
2nd Period
The home was fully aware of the fact that if the Toronto Maple Leafs was given a chance to let their confidence grow then they would punish them. Therefore, they were determined to score as soon as possible.
Taking calculated risks this time out; they managed to level the score in the 7th minute. The goal was scored by Mike Green from a decent strike during power play from 17th minute. The Toronto Maple Leafs attacked when play restarted
but realizing that the Washington Capitals had the momentum in their favour, they decided to fall back and concentrate on defence. This strategy didn’t work as the Washington Capitals scored in the 11th minute to take the lead. The goal was scored
from a brilliant flick shot from 12 feet by Jason Chimera. The home team saw the opposing defence crumbling so they continued to attack.
Consequently, they scored another goal in the 12th minute. The goal was scored by Tomas Fleischmann through a powerful strike from 53 feet. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals came across several scoring opportunities but there
no further goals as the period ended with the Washington Capitals leading 3-1.
The period saw both the teams making 10 goal attempts but the home team scored thrice during the period to get ahead.
3rd Period
The Toronto Maple Leafs was quick out off the blocks and scored to cut the lead to 1 goal. The goal was scored by Mike Brown from a flick shot from 39 feet in the 5th minute.
The home team responded to this with an even tough defence and managed to level the match. The goal was scored by Kris Versteeg from 16 feet. The Toronto Maple Leafs continued the strong and dominating performance in the period and scored in the 8th
minute to take the lead and silence the home crowd that was once wild. The goal was scored by Tyler Bozak through a flick shot from 14 feet.
The period saw its final goal being scored in favour of the Washington Capitals. The goal was scored by Alexander Semin from 7 feet. This levelled the score at 4-4 and sent the match into overtime as the score remained 4-4 at the end of the match.
There were no goals in the overtime but Captain Alex Ovechkin’s and Semin’s goals in the shootout saw the Capitals win the match 5-4.
Talking about his goal in the regulation time, Semin said, "The goalie was staying inside the goal so it was pointless trying to deke around him so I just decided to shoot right there and then," Semin said.
"It would have been too hard to try and get around him."
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