Gameday: at Toronto, Nov. 19

Time to start winning again...

The Washington Capitals are in Toronto, Ontario, this evening to take on the Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.  The Capitals, losers of three straight, enter tonight's game at 10-6-1 for 21 points following their 4-1 thrashing at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.  Those 21 points place the Capitals first in the Southeastern Conference and third in the East; however they are only third in the East because of their Division standing and there are several teams below them in the standings with more points.  The Maple Leafs, who, like the Caps, got off to a hot start but have slowed down since, come into tonight at 10-7-2 for 22 points. Those 22 points place them second in the Northeast Division and sixth in the East coming off a 4-1 loss to Nashville Thursday.  This is the first of four meetings between these two teams this season.

Rookie Ben Scrivens is likely to earn the nod from Toronto coach Ron Wilson for the eighth game in a row as regular starter James Reimer is out with a concussion.  Scrivens is 2-3-1 on the year with a 2.95 GAA and .899 save percentage, and made 18 stops on 21 shots in his last outing, that 4-1 loss to the Predators.  Toronto's forward corps is decimated by injuries at the moment, and Wilson will be without Mikhail Grabovski (leg), Clarke MacArthur (upper body), and Matthew Lombardi (hand) for tonight's game.  Pylon Defenseman Mike Komisarek will also be missing from the lineup with an upper body injury.

Tomas Vokoun will be called upon to right the ship for Bruce Boudreau's men following Thursday night's atrocity from Michal Neuvirth.  Vokoun is 8-3 on the year with 2.36 GAA, .922 save percentage, and one shutout.  He made 28 saves in his last outing, a 3-1 loss to Nashville on Tuesday.  On the injury front, the Caps are still without Mike Green, who has a pulled right groin injury and has still not even skated since getting hurt last Saturday.  Mathieu Perreault seems likely to be the healthy scratch once more, though Jeff Halpern or Matt Hendricks could also get sat.

Puck drops around 7:11 because of Canada and their second national anthem and because Don Cherry will probably light the set on fire with his suit.