The Maple Leafs largely dominated the opening 40 minutes before parking the bus a little bit to end the game against the Red Wings on Thursday, a 5-3 win that was their fourth victory in five games against non-playoff opponents from 2017-18 to start the new season.
That run of weak opposition will end starting tonight against a Capitals team that, coming off of their Cup win, is off to a pretty good start to the year and shouldn’t be a sleeping giant; they’re coming off of their first regulation loss of the season in a blowout loss to the New Jersey Devils.