The Toronto Maple Leafs face the Washington Capitals in the second half of a back-to-back. They are coming off a dominant win against the Detroit Red Wings. Meanwhile, the Capitals welcome back their captain, Alexander Ovechkin, after he missed four weeks with a fractured fibula.
Related: Revisiting the Maple Leafs’ Trade for Vesa Toskala From the Sharks
These are two of the top teams in the NHL, squaring off in a prime-time slot on Hockey Night in Canada. It should be a great game!
First Period
The Maple Leafs were the first to get on the board with a tip off the body of John Tavares (18). Simon Benoit let it fly from the point, and Tavares provided the screen in front. Luckily, the puck hit him and went in. However, after that, it was mostly the Capitals. They managed to get two past Matt Murray—one on a one-timer by Jacob Chychrun (10) and the other on a shot by Andrew Mangiapane (8) that just sneaked under Murray’s pad. The Maple Leafs had a chance to tie it, but Logan Thompson robbed William Nylander.
Nylander had such a wide-open net that the goal judge at Scotiabank Arena turned on the goal light, it also fooled the fans and the broadcast team who thought that was a sure fire goal. Thanks to Thompson’s potential save of the year, the Capitals took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Second Period
The second period started off much like the first. At times, it felt like a track meet; other times, both teams were clogging lanes and boxing out effectively. The first five minutes featured plenty of back-and-forth action as the Maple Leafs pushed to get the equalizer. They eventually succeeded on an odd-man rush. Max Domi sauced the puck to Bobby McMann, who was stopped on the initial shot. However, with Ovechkin sliding into Thompson, McMann (10) capitalized on the rebound and buried it in the back of the net.
Unfortunately, the tie didn’t last long. The Capitals hemmed the Maple Leafs in, and just 1:43 later, they fooled Murray with a cross-crease play that left Nic Dowd (9) with an open net to regain the lead at 3-2. With 4:20 remaining in the period, the Maple Leafs headed to their first power play. They had solid zone time but were unable to convert. The period ended with Washington maintaining their 3-2 advantage.
Third Period
The third period started off with an early power play opportunity for the Maple Leafs. The first minute of the power play looked out of sorts. They couldn’t get the puck into the zone, and the Capitals were holding the line very well as they played shutdown hockey to protect their lead. After the penalty was over, the rest of the first half of the third didn’t have much happening. Simon Benoit tried to change the pace with a hard hit on Brandon Duhaime, but nothing came of that hit.
At 11:17 into the third, Jake McCabe was called for a penalty, giving the Capitals their first power play of the night. Washington was able to get a deflection in front from Tom Wilson (14) and beat Murray to take a 4-2 lead. The Maple Leafs pulled their goalie at 4:21 to try and get back into the game. The Capitals found Ovechkin (16), who scored his 869th goal into the empty net to seal the deal for Washington, 5-2.
