Capitals fans cheer during the victory parade in Washington, D.C.
Road-weary Caps return home and get throttled by the Maple Leafs.
After a five-game Western Conference road trip, the Washington Capitals didn’t have time to catch their breath and return home. Following a Tuesday flight back from Calgary, the Capitals were scheduled to meet the Toronto Maple Leafs at Capital One Arena on Wednesday night, and the effects of the long road trip and associated travel were brutally evident in a 7-3 loss.
The Maple Leafs played Tuesday in Philadelphia, so they weren’t quite fresh, but their superior skill and speed propelled them past a home club that was simply trying to keep up. Despite reducing their deficit to one goal three times, the Capitals ran out of resilience in
The Maple Leafs surged away with three goals in the final 12:02, ending Washington’s three-game winning streak. Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves. Joseph Woll stopped 18 of Toronto’s 21 shots.
“Behind the eight-ball from the start, correct? We fought back several times in that game and got within striking distance, but it just felt like we’d make that one error or shift that would kill our momentum of getting back in the game,” Washington Coach Spencer Carbery said. “It happened several times.
A blend of several things. Obviously, we had no response for [Auston Matthews] tonight in their lineup, which is a worry. We felt like we made a few uncharacteristic, major blunders in crucial times.”
Matthews put the Maple Leafs ahead just 16 seconds into the game, his first of two goals and five points on the night. Washington’s fourth line lost a skirmish along the boards, and the puck wound up behind the net, where Max Domi gathered it and fed Matthews in front for a tap-in. But the Capitals immediately regained their footing; in 20 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick, they had 15 scoring opportunities to Toronto’s five.
However, that momentum did not carry over into the second period, as William Nylander scored in just 56 seconds to make it 2-0. Nylander’s goal came seconds after winger Ivan Miroshnichenko failed to put the puck in the net on a two-on-one rush with center Dylan Strome, a scoring opportunity that could have tied the game. Instead, the Capitals found themselves behind by two goals.
“The Nylander goal, that just cannot happen,” Carbery stated. “The first goal against cannot happen. Even while I believe we accomplished a lot of good for the most part, we had a few isolated incidents that were out of character and couldn’t have happened at this time of year.
Captain Alex Ovechkin scored a vintage one-timer from the left circle on the power play at 9:57, but as would be the case throughout the game, Toronto required little time to expand its lead again. Matthews scored his second at 12:59, and while center Connor McMichael immediately cut the deficit in half at 13:34, the Maple Leafs were back up by two at the end of the first courtesy to Jake McCabe’s goal with only 25 seconds left.
“We were just a little off,” Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk explained. “And with a squad like theirs, they just need a little talent. We knew they had some high-end talent and finishers. We knew how focused we were.
The onslaught of goals slowed to begin the third period, but when Ovechkin scored his second of the night — and the 845th of his career, putting him 49 goals shy of tying Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record — the Maple Leafs firmly pushed the accelerator in the last 13 minutes.
“As soon as we got close to them, they found a way to get another two-goal lead,” Ovechkin was quoted as saying. “It’s kind of irritating. Clearly, we must learn from that. Want to make a push, not quit playing and continue. Did not push.”
Bobby McMann and Tyler Bertuzzi scored 38 seconds apart to break open what had been a one-goal contest, and Toronto maintained control from there. At 12:15, winger Tom Wilson was punished for a double minor for drawing blood with a high stick on Noah Gregor, and 3:43 into the extended penalty kill, John Tavares scored the extra point to Toronto’s touchdown, bringing the score to 7-3.
Washington’s harsh schedule resumes Friday with a game against the Carolina Hurricanes — and former Capitals Evgeny Kuznetsov, who will return to Washington after being traded to Carolina on March 8.
“We obviously weren’t good enough and sharp enough,” van Riemsdyk added. “This time of year, you can’t have efforts like that, but we’ll bounce back and we’ll be ready to go for the next one.”
Wingers T.J. Oshie and Aliaksei Protas were scratched from Wednesday’s game due to upper- and lower-body injuries, respectively. After leaving Saturday’s morning practice in Vancouver early, Oshie was a game-time decision against the Canucks, but he appeared in both that game and Monday’s game in Calgary. Protas was hurt by a shot late in the game on March 9 and missed last week’s game in Edmonton, but he participated in the final three games of the road trip.
