Toskala will be out by the midway point of the 2nd period.

Will Wallin’s patented “stand perfectly still for an entire shift while watching everyone else play” move be more effective from the centre position?

You said Toskala will play 50-55 games, roughly 2/3 of the schedule.

Gustavsson deserves to play his first game on the road, the home crowd won’t give him any room for error.

Start him in Washington. See what he does against Ovie.

 Finger will be much more stable than Exelby.

Oh man, when I first glanced at this, I read it as ‘Mayers, Finger to DC’, and my heart skipped a beat.

I’m really looking forward to the game Saturday – I see it as a barometer for the Caps.

Bring on the belligerence, truculence and testosterone. Our boys in red had a tendency to go to the perimeter and try cute plays when faced with a physical team last season; the problem was that they’re skilled enough to get away with it, often. That crap doesn’t cut it against a truly determined defensive team in the playoffs though, as we found out.

Can our D break out against a determined forecheck? Can our O get into the corners to get the puck out when faced with some snarl? Can they score the ugly goal? I feel like this will be answered against the Leafs, or at least a good read will be available on where they need work.

The biggest question in my mind, though, is can they avoid playing down to the level of their opponents? This isn’t a knock on the Leafs, but Boston and Washington are better teams on paper. The Caps didn’t seem to have trouble getting up for the big boys last season – 3-0-1 against both Boston and Pitt, won their only game against Detroit and blew out the Canucks. Against teams they had no business losing to, that was another story. A couple of laughers against Florida and Atlanta, a NINE MINUTE POWER PLAY against Calgary and not one goal to show for it. There wasn’t really a killer instinct, a moment when they decided to put teams away and keep the skate to the throat. It was common to see a stellar first and second period, followed by a laaazy third period that let the opposition climb back into contention.

I hope the Leafs make them earn everything they do, every puck along the boards and every bit of space in the offensive zone. I hope the Leafs finish every check, forecheck until there are holes in the boards and that we get a truer sense of where our team (and our Cup aspirations) are.

I’m going to argue that the pressure on Jonas mounts with each of Toskala’s softies. I say throw him out there while the stakes are still relatively low. And if he succeeds, great, we shut down a contender. If he doesn’t, no biggie, Washington is a great team. A loss isn’t going to scar the monster for life.

My fear is that Wilson waits too long on Vesa to regain gain form.

Oh wow. I slept all day and then I stayed up all night. Wrote a post. Wonder if anyone will see it. Robot Godzilla is still awake. Maybe he can tell people when the FTB goes up. I will be asleep by then.