POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Leafs 4, Caps 2

Late Letdown Leads To Loss vs. Leafs - In the aftermath of Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the general consensus seemed to be that the Caps played a great second period and they let the game slip away in the first half of the third period.

We see it in a slightly different light here. Although they played probably their best second period of the still young 2018-19 season, the middle frame also ultimately began the Capitals' unraveling in Saturday night's 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs.
The Caps carried a 1-0 lead into the second, but Toronto tied the game on its first shot of the middle period, a Kasperi Kapanen deflection of Ron Hainsey's left point shot at 3:30. Washington regained its lead on Evgeny Kuznetsov's power-play goal just over a minute later, and the Caps permitted the Leafs little in the way of scoring opportunities for most of the rest of the period.
In the 10 minutes following Kuznetsov's goal, the Caps limited the Leafs to exactly one shot on net at five-on-five, but Washington generated only four shots of its own during that span, too. Although both sides continued to play at a high tempo during that stretch, neither was able to offer much in the way of an offensive threat.
Late in the period, the Leafs hemmed the Caps in the Washington end for a bit, and ultimately tied the game at 2-2 when Par Lindholm netted his first NHL goal with just 67 seconds left in the period. Toronto had only four shots on net at five-on-five in the second, but it scored on the first and last of them, and the Leafs held Washington without a shot on net for more than a dozen minutes - the last four-plus minute of the second and the first several minutes of the third - altering the complexion of the contest.
At the time of Lindholm's goal, the Caps defensive duo of Brooks Orpik and Christian Djoos had been on the ice for 93 seconds, or roughly double the length of a normal shift. The Caps forwards on the ice were fresher, but Lindholm was able to beat Caps winger Brett Connolly to the net for a back-door tap-in, then difference between going to the room up a goal after 40 minutes versus going in even.
Giving up goals late in periods seems to have a tendency to bite teams, and it bit the Caps on Saturday. They came out flat in the third, didn't have the puck much and were soon chasing the Leafs and the game. By the time the Caps recorded their first shot on net of the third period - and their first shot in more than 12 minutes - the Leafs owned a 3-2 lead. Toronto scored both the tying and go-ahead goals during Washington's 12-plus minutes without a shot.
"I think the start of the third period, the start from our line," answers Kuznetsov, asked when the game got away from his team. "We didn't put the puck deep and made a couple of turnovers, and I think that gave [the Leafs] a little bit of energy. They feel like they can come and in the first 10 minutes of the third period, we were kind of sloppy a little bit. I don't know why we made those mistakes, and then they got that goal."
Once the Leafs took the lead, the Caps did begin to generate some offensive-zone heat, but Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen preserved the Leafs' lead and the victory for his team.
Swift Start -The Caps led for most of Saturday's game, and they took that lead just 18 seconds into the game on a goal from No. 18, Chandler Stephenson. Elevated to the Caps' top line before the game, Stephenson took off on a two-on-one rush with Kuznetsov, and he scored on a rebound of the center's shot.
Stephenson's goal marked the 22nd time in Caps franchise history that the team scored in the first 18 seconds of a game.
Power Move - Kuznetsov's power-play goal was a thing of beauty. From the very bottom of the right circle, the lefty-shooting center picked the top, near-side/short side corner and expertly slipped a hard shot into the tiniest of openings over the left shoulder of Leafs netminder Frederik Andersen.
"I was looking to pass," says Kuznetsov, "but I don't know what happened. I decided to shoot, and I think that's a pretty lucky shot.
Kuznetsov now has four power-play goals in just five games this season; his single-season career high is seven, established in 2017-18.
Multi-Point Matthews - Leafs center Auston Matthews racked up a pair of points with a goal and an assist in Saturday's game, marking the sixth straight contest in which he has recorded multiple points. Matthews is just the sixth player in league history to record multiple points in each of his team's first six games of the season, and the first since Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux and Kevin Stevens turned the trick in 1992-93.
Matthews scored the Leafs' final goal of Saturday's game, lighting the lamp in the 59th minute. In doing so, he becomes the 15th player in league history and just the fifth in the "modern" NHL (since 1943-44) to score as many as 10 goals in his first six games of the season. Lemieux was the last to do so prior to Matthews; the Pens Hall of Famer scored 11 goals in Pittsburgh's first six games of the 1988-89 season.
Dating back to the 2017-18 regular season, Matthews has recorded a point in 16 straight games now, matching the fourth longest streak in Toronto's franchise history. Matthews is four games shy of matching the Leafs standard of 20 straight games with a point, established nearly a century ago when Babe Dye piled up 42 points while scoring in 20 consecutive games in 1922.
Down On the Farm - The AHL Hershey Bears are off to a tough start to the 2018-19 season; they're still seeking their first win. On Saturday night in Milwaukee, the Bears lost for the second time in as many nights and the fourth straight game of the season (0-4-0), falling to the Admirals, 5-1. Hershey has scored seven goals while yielding 16 in the first four games of the campaign.
The Bears will finish off a busy weekend of three games in as many nights on Sunday when they take on the Ice Hogs in Rockford on Sunday.
By The Numbers - John Carlson led the Caps with 25:48 in ice time … Kuznetsov led the Caps with five shots on net and Alex Ovechkin led Washington with 11 shot attempts, seven of which were blocked … Orpik led the Capitals with six hits … Dmitry Orlov led Washington with four blocked shots … Lars Eller won 10 of 15 draws (67%).