After 2 humiliating losses the Washington Capitals had a ''players only meeting'' which ever since the Capitals have been on fire, winning four straight games against some of the top teams in the Eastern Conference; Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and kicking the snot out of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Recently the team has been dealing with a flu-like illness within the locker room, losing Connor Sheary and Lars Eller for a few games due to it, and today The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir reported that Evgeny Kuznetsov missed the morning skate in Toronto because of a non-COVID illness that's been going around the team, and Orlov also did not skate as he continues to heal from a lower-body injury that kept him out of last game as well.
This is going to be one exciting game to watch tonight as two of the leagues best goal scorers will go head-to-head. Alexander Ovechkin loves playing in Toronto and Matthews is fresh off an embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Sabres, so look for him to try and get things going for the Leafs early!