Maple Leafs Blast Capitals, 7-3; Alex Ovechkin Scores Twice, Connor McMichael Scores 15th Goal Of The Season


Photo: X/@Capitals

The Washington Capitals fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-3 Wednesday night at Capital One Arena in the District. The loss drops the Capitals record to 33-26-9 (75 points) on the season.

Auston Matthews gave the Maple Leafs the game’s first lead just 16 seconds into the contest and a 1-o led at the first intermission. William Nylander made it 2-0 just 56 seconds into the middle frame.

The Capitals recorded their first tally of the night on an Alex Ovechkin power play goal from the office midway through the middle frame, but the Maple Leafs answered minutes later on Auston Matthews second goal of the night.

The Capitals struck back with a tally from Connor McMichael moments later, to make it 3-2, but the Leafs restored their two-goal lead with less than a minute to play in the frame for a 4-2 lead at the second intermission.

The Capitals closed the gap to 4-3 on Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game early in the final period but the Leafs once again quickly answered to make it 5-3 and stretched their lead to 6-3 midway through the final frame. They would also add a power play goal late to make it 7-3.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (18-11-5, 2.59 GAA, .915 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals. Joseph Woll (1-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .973 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Maple Leafs. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin — Connor McMichael — Mike Sgarbossa
Ivan Miroshnichenko — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty — Hendrix Lapierre — Sonny Milano
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube Kubel

Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev  — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratches: T.J. Oshie (upper-body injury, day-to-day), Aliaksei Protas (lower-body injury, day-to-day), D Ethan Bear, Center Nicklas Backstrom (hip injury).

1ST PERIOD

The Maple Leafs wasted no time in notching the game’s first tally, denting the twine just 16 seconds into the contest with a goal from Auston Matthews (56).

And that was it for the first period. Other than goal allowed, it was a good period for the Capitals. They led in five-on-five shot attempts, 25-18 and high-danger chances, 6-1.

2ND PERIOD

The Leafs made it 2-0 just 56 seconds into the middle frame on William Nylander’s 38th goal of the season.

The Capitals cut the Leafs lead in half with a power play goal from Alex Ovechkin (22) at 9:57 off the middle frame. John Carlson (36) and Tom Wilson (15) had the helpers.

Unfortunately the Leafs answered on Auston Matthews second goal of the night at 12:59 of the second period.

But the Capitals had an answer themselves, as Connor McMichael notched his 15th of the season at 13:34 of the second period.

The Leafs made it 4-2 with less than a minute to go in the period. Jake McCabe scored his 7th goal of the season at 19:35.

The second period concluded with the Leafs leading, 4-2. The Leafs led in five-on-five shot attempts, 24-22 in the second period.

3RD PERIOD

The Capitals closed the gap to 4-3 on Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the game at 6:42 of the final frame. Dylan Strome (31) had the lone assist.

But the Leafs quickly restored their two-goal lead moments later on Bobby McMann’s 11th goal of the season and added a tally from Tyler Bertuzzi moments later to make it 6-3.

The Leafs added a power play goal from John Tavares to make it 7-3 after Tom Wilson was tagged with a double-minor for high-sticking.

That would be the final.

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





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