POSTGAME NOTEBOOK - Leafs 5, Caps 3

Anywhere's Better Than Here -The final day of February was not a good one for the Capitals. With the Toronto Maple Leafs in town to provide the opposition in the opener of a three-game homestand, the Caps were looking to halt a five-game regulation losing streak at home, the team's longest in nearly 15 years. They were seeking to avoid a third straight regulation loss for the first time in more than a year. And they were aiming to avoid a second successive month with a losing record (points pct. below .500), an ignominy they hadn't suffered since the first two months of the 2007-08 season.

At night's end, they were left to ruminate yet another loss, a 5-3 setback to the Leafs. For the first time since they lost seven straight games in regulation at the long since demolished Capital Centre from Oct. 14-Nov. 11, 1981, the Caps have lost six straight regulation decisions on home ice.
Another difficult first period proved to be their undoing in Monday's loss. The Caps actually played a good first period offensively, buzzing the Toronto net and bringing pucks and bodies to the cage. After falling behind early - another recent plague - they evened the score late in the frame on Conor Sheary's deflection of a Nicklas Backstrom point shot.
But the Leafs exploited a couple of defensive breakdowns even later in the period, regaining the lead on a William Nylander goal with 1:11 left in the first and adding to the cushion when Justin Holl scored with 1.6 seconds left in the frame.
"You can go back and look at the goals, we made a mistake on the goals and it ends up in the back of the net," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "The ending of the first period was tough. You're looking at a game where it's tight, and we didn't give up much until the end. And we let up two goals towards the end of the first period, and that's not good.
"Good fight to come back in the game, and you get to a point where you're pushing down the stretch and you've just got to keep moving forward, and again a mistake and that's it."
The Caps came back to get even on a pair of Tom Wilson goals, a power-play goal in the second and a shorthanded goal early in the third. But Toronto regained the lead with another late goal while the teams were playing 4-on-4 hockey, a Rasmus Sandin tally with 3:23 left in the third. An empty-netter sealed Washington's fate, leaving it with its longest regulation slide at home in more than four decades.
Washington's home ice woes have become more acute since the calendar flipped to 2022. In 11 home games this calendar year, the Caps are 2-8-1. That's the worst home record of any team in the NHL over that span, and it's not close. The Caps' .227 points pct. on home ice is .73 worse than the next closest team (Montreal), and the gap between the Caps and the Habs is greater than that between any other two teams in the League, going all the way to Calgary's .917 at the opposite end of that spectrum.
In those last 11 home games, the Caps have held a lead for just 60:16, again the lowest figure in the League over that stretch. Each of their two home ice victories in 2022 were achieved in overtime and in games in which they never held a scoreboard lead. Washington's last regulation win at home came two months ago, in a 6-3 win over Nashville on Dec. 29.
First periods have been an issue. On the season and in all locations, the Caps have outscored the opposition 52-39 in the first period. But in their last 11 home games, they've been doubled up 16-8 on the scoreboard in the opening 20 minutes of games. They've been dented for multiple goals against in the first period 10 times in 55 games this season, but it's happened in three of their last four home games and eight of the 10 instances have come since the turn of the calendar.
Washington is also giving up goals at some of the most critical junctures of games. In Monday's loss, the game turned in the final two minutes of the first when Toronto scored twice in what was a 1-1 game. In their 22 games in calendar 2022, the Caps have been outscored 6-1 in the final two minutes of the first period and 6-1 in the final two minutes of the second.
Laviolette has said repeatedly that every game is different and you can't paint them all with the same brush, and he is right of course. Goaltending has been a problem at times. Defense has been problematic at times. A lack of scoring has been a problem at times. Special teams have been up and down.
In Monday's loss, Laviolette removed starting goalie Ilya Samsonov after he yielded three goals on 10 shots in 20 minutes of work. But late empty-netter aside, three of the four Toronto goals came on plays the Leafs made from behind the Washington net to loose coverage in front.
The Caps wasted one of their better special teams nights of the season on Monday; they shut down the League's top power play team on four opportunities, scored one goal on the power play and one shorthanded, but still came away empty-handed at night's end.
It's been a long time since the Caps lost a game in which they scored a shorty and a power-play goal in the same game while enjoying a perfect night on the penalty kill - the last time it happened was on Nov. 19, 2007 in a 4-3 loss to Florida.
We've witnessed a lot of great hockey here in the last decade and a half. We've seen this team be resilient and resourceful, and we've seen it find ways to win games. But lately, the Caps have been finding ways to lose games. Their position in the standings is still relatively safe; they're 10 points clear of Columbus which holds a couple of games in hand. But the Caps are living off their 14-3-5 start in the season's first 22 games; they've gone just 8-12-2 in their last 22. They've still got 27 games with which to right the ship before the playoffs begin.
Red Light Special - Wilson netted a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal in the same game for the first time in his NHL career on Monday, an occurrence that has happened only 21 times in the regular season in Washington's NHL history. Caps captain Alex Ovechkin achieved the feat on opening night of this season against the Rangers, and prior to that, T.J. Oshie was the last Washington player to turn the trick; he did it against Pittsburgh on Nov. 16, 2016.
Peter Bondra holds the franchise record with four of the 21 occurrences, and he is the only Caps player who has ever achieved the feat more than once. Bob Sirois was the first Washington player to do it, on March 8, 1980 against Hartford.
Killing It - The one shining element of Washington's game on Monday night was its penalty killing outfit, which successfully snuffed out four Toronto power plays while scoring a shorthanded goal in the process. Not only did the Caps hold the Leafs off the scoreboard on the man advantage, they didn't allow as much as a shot on net to Toronto in those eight minutes.
"They were really good," says Laviolette of his team's penalty killing outfit. "I thought we were really good on entry; I thought we were right on them on entry and as soon as they entered we got a lot of clears. And then when there was a bobble, I thought we did a good job of forcing and pressuring."
Sometime To Return - Bill Riley was briefly a member of the 1974-75 inaugural Caps team, playing one game for Washington that season. But when he took the ice for that Dec. 26, 1974 game against Philadelphia, it was an historic moment in NHL history. Riley joined Caps rookie Mike Marson on the ice that night, marking the first time in League history that two Black players suited up for the same NHL game, whether as teammates or as foes. Riley followed in the skate steps of legendary Hockey Hall of Famer Willie O'Ree and Marson as just the third Black player in NHL history nearly half a century ago.
Riley and his granddaughter Kryshanda Green were spotlighted in a ceremonial puck drop on the final night of Black History Month, and the 71-year-old native of Nova Scotia spent the weekend in the DMV with his granddaughter, who is a trailblazer in her own right. Ms. Green is the former and first captain of the Ryerson University's women's hockey team, and she now serves on the NHL's Youth Hockey Inclusion Council.
During his time here over the weekend, Riley was able to see the Black Hockey History display at the Smithsonian, he participated in youth hockey clinics in the area, caught up with several of his fellow Caps alumni, and was able to meet and receive a signed stick and jersey from Caps captain Alex Ovechkin. He spent some time talking with local media and with Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin during the telecast of the Caps-Leafs game.
Laughlin and Riley were briefly teammates on the 1979-80 Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Montreal's AHL affiliate in those days.
Riley wore three different numbers during his four-season tenure here in the 1970s, and one of them was No. 8; he was the fifth player to sport that sweater here in D.C. It was heartening to see him getting some much deserved attention and accolades; Riley's story as a self-made pro hockey player who beat some remarkable odds to forge a five-year career in the NHL is an incredible one and we were privileged to spend some time talking with him for a soon-to-be released episode of our Break The Ice podcast.
By The Numbers -John Carlson had three assists in Monday's game, the 11th time in his career and the second time this season (Dec. 29 vs. Nashville) he has had a trio of helpers in the same game … Wilson led Washington with seven shots on net and 13 shot attempts … Garnet Hathaway led the Caps with six hits, and 17 of the Caps' 18 skaters recorded at least one of the team's 39 hits on the night … Ovechkin, Nick Jensen, Lars Eller and Martin Fehervary each blocked two shots to lead the Caps … Nic Dowd won 10 of 16 draws (63 percent).