Caps Edge Leafs, 3-2

Taking too many penalties has been a problem for the Caps at times this season, but they took a pretty important penalty early in the third period of Thursday's game with the Maple Leafs in Toronto, and it ended up affecting a two-goal swing and altering the complexion of the game, a 3-2 Washington win.

With the Caps up 2-1 and with the Leafs pressing hard for the equalizer, Caps defenseman John Carlson put a hook on Leafs forward Zach Hyman, preventing him from getting a free shot at a vacant side of the net and tying the game at 2-2 with plenty of time remaining.
The Caps went on the penalty kill, and after enduring some Toronto pressure in their end for the better part of a minute, Lars Eller gained control of a rebound after Braden Holtby made a stop on Mitch Marner. Eller carried up ice on a 2-on-1 with Tom Wilson, gained the Toronto zone and fed Wilson driving the center lane. From the slot, Wilson whipped a shot high to the stick side on Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, making it a 3-1 game for Washington less than a minute after Hyman should have made it a 2-2 game.

"I was fresh," says Wilson. "The rest of the guys did a good job of killing it. I was just holding my position, so I had some legs left to get up ice. Lars made a tight saucer pass and I got lucky to put it in."
Wilson's goal was the Caps' first shorthanded goal since Jan. 8 and first against a goaltender since Dec. 21. It turned out to be the game-winner on Thursday.
"There are good penalties always," says Holtby, who earned his 21st win of the season with a 40-save performance, 19 of which came in the third period. "Sometimes, you've got to trust your kill. That's one that you want to kill off every time. You get a little more amped up to kill those off. Those are the ones that we are okay with, and it's the lazier ones that we need to get rid of. We're getting better at it; it's coming."

Holtby was excellent from the start, making a stellar stop on Patrick Marleau on a two-on-one rush early in the first and stopping William Nylander and Connor Brown in short succession near the middle of the first to prevent the Leafs from getting on the board first. Andersen was also at his best in what was a scoreless first frame.
For the fourth time in the last four games, Washington's first goal of the game came from an Alex Ovechkin shot on the power play. In Thursday's game with the Leafs, the Caps won only two of 13 first-period face-offs. But with Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly in the box for holding, T.J. Oshie muscled his way to a right dot draw win, pulling the puck back to John Carlson at the right point. Carlson fed Ovechkin, and from well above the top of the left circle, the Caps' captain clapped a one-timer past Frederik Andersen for a 1-0 Washington lead at 3:54 of the second.
The goal was the 650th of Ovechkin's NHL career.

The Caps couldn't convert on a second power play opportunity shortly thereafter, but seconds after completing their own first successful penalty kill of the night, they doubled their lead on a forechecking goal.
Lars Eller dumped the puck into the Leafs zone, and Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner went back to pull it off the boards behind his own net. But before he could do so cleanly, Wilson bulldozed him off the puck, leaving it for Eller who fed Brett Connolly in front. Connolly waited out Andersen just a bit, then backhanded it behind him for a 2-0 Washington lead at 12:07 of the middle stanza.
"I just came off the bench, and Willy made a good hit on the forecheck, and kind of made the guy turn it over," recounts Connolly. "I was trying to talk to Lars and let him know that I was in front all alone. It just worked out. I got the puck in a good area, and I made the first move, and it was good to see him go down. It was good to see [Andersen] go down like that. It was good to see that one go in, for sure."
Two nights after they rallied from a 2-0 third-period deficit to force overtime against the Blues in St. Louis, the Leafs set the table for another comeback when Andreas Johnsson scored on a rebound of an Auston Matthews shot at 4:23 of the third, shaving the Caps' lead to 2-1.

Roughly 90 seconds later, Carlson took his fateful penalty, improbably putting the Caps in a better spot than they were in before he took it. Toronto made it a one-goal game on a John Tavares shot from the slot with 32.9 seconds remaining, but the caps got out of town with a second straight win, and they'll head home no worse than even from a grueling six-game road trip, their longest continuous journey in more than 15 years.
"Special teams was really important for us tonight," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "Huge to get some big saves early from Holtby, and then to convert on the power play was big for us, and then obviously to get a shorthanded one as well. That's a really good team win for us overall tonight."