TORONTO (AP) - Alexander Ovechkin scored twice again, and Toronto trailed by two again. This time, the Maple Leafs worked their way out of the hole.
Alexei Ponikarovsky, Bryan McCabe, Mats Sundin and Carlo Colaiacovo scored in the third period and the Maple Leafs rallied for a 6-4 victory over the Capitals on Tuesday night. Chad Kilger and Jeff O'Neill added goals for the Maple Leafs.
Ovechkin duplicated his performance Sunday when he scored twice in Washington's 5-4 victory over Toronto.
Ovechkin, the top pick in the 2004 NHL draft, leads all rookies with 12 goals. The 20-year-old Russian has five two-goal games in the first 15 games of his career.
"It's healthy for the league, having these young, exciting players coming in," Sundin said. "As long as you are the winning side, like we are tonight, I don't mind him scoring a couple of goals."
The Maple Leafs fell behind 2-0 to the Washington for the second straight game. But Toronto didn't falter after tying it this time, scoring three straight in less than three minutes in the third.
"We worked a lot harder tonight. The other night, we just plain and simple got outworked and that shouldn't happen," McCabe said. "We were pretty unlucky to be down 2-0 after one. We stuck to the program, and it worked out."
Ponikarovsky pushed off a defender and put a shot past goalie Olie Kolzig at 5:35 goal of the third. McCabe scored on slap shot from the point on the power play at 6:57, and Sundin skated around the net and put a wraparound shot past Kolzig at 7:36.
Brent Johnson replaced Kolzig in goal after Sundin's goal, but didn't fare much better.
After Ovechkin got some momentum back by scoring on the power play at 9:16 of the third, Johnson allowed Colaiacovo's shot from the point to tip off his blocker and past him, giving Toronto a 6-3 lead with 5:57 left. It was Colaiacovo's first NHL goal.
"We came here to win, the first period we played well, but Toronto won the third," Ovechkin said.
Ben Clymer put a weak wrist shot between Toronto goalie Ed Belfour's legs, giving Washington a 1-0 lead at 10:37 of the first.
Ovechkin scored his 11th goal of the season by coming off the boards and putting a wrist shot past Belfour at 15:18 of the first.
"These kids step on the stage right off the bat and they are something," Toronto coach Pat Quinn said of a rookie class that also includes Sidney Crosby.
Notes: Matt Pettinger also scored for Washington. ... Kolzig allowed five goals on 32 shots. ... Sundin scored his second goal since returning from a broken orbital bone near his left eye.
