The win moved the Capitals to within three points of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East with three games remaining. The Senators hold one game in hand.
The Capitals also pulled to within three points of the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers have a game in hand.
Logan Thompson, who started for the 11th time in the past 12 games, made 21 saves for the Capitals (40-30-9), who are 5-2-0 in their past seven. It was his third shutout of the season and ninth in the NHL. Dylan Strome and Martin Fehervary each had a goal and an assist.
Joseph Woll made 14 saves for the Maple Leafs (32-32-14), who have been eliminated from playoff contention. Woll entered the game after Anthony Stolarz left 2:34 into the first period when he appeared to sustain a left leg injury while kicking out his pad to make a save. Stolarz, who stopped each of the two shots he faced, remained on the ice for several minutes before being assisted off by teammates Bo Grouxl and Simon Benoit while not putting weight on the leg.
The Capitals went up 1-0 at 13:22 of the first period when Strome one-timed a pass from Anthony Beauvillier on a 2-on-1.
Leonard made it 2-0 40 seconds into the second period. Tom Wilson intercepted a pass from Easton Cowan just inside the defensive zone and swung a backhand pass up the middle to spring Leonard, who had just come out of the penalty box, on a breakaway.
Thompson kept it 2-0 when he made a glove save on Steven Lorentz, who shot from just above the top of the goal crease.
Fehervary pushed it to 3-0 at 2:53 when his shot from the top of the left face-off circle deflected off Jake McCabe’s skate in the slot and trickled in after going off Woll’s pad. The goal was Fehervary’s 100th NHL point in his 377th game.
Cole Hutson shot into an empty net at 16:10 for the 4-0 final. Ilya Protas assisted on the goal for his first point in his NHL debut.
Maple Leafs forward Dakota Joshua left the game with an upper body injury at 13:36 of the second period after falling awkwardly into the boards due to a collision with Rasmus Sandin.
Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo did not return for the third period because of lower body. His last shift ended with 29 seconds left in the second period.
