Capitals rally, hold off Maple Leafs
via NHL.com
The Washington Capitals scored three goals in 78 seconds in the second period before holding off the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 4-3 win at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.
John Carlson had a goal and two assists, and Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist for Washington (4-2-2), which had lost four of its past five games. Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves in his first home start.
“We were way more aggressive there and we kept it simple,” Backstrom said of the second period. “That’s what you’ve got to do against teams like this. You’ve got to put pressure on them, and we did that. So that got us the chances we got.”
Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and two assists, and Michael Hutchinson made 28 saves for Toronto (4-3-1), which was playing the second of back-to-back games.
“It was disappointing because we thought we were set up pretty good, but the bottom line is we’ve got to find a way to play better in these back-to-backs,” coach Mike Babcock said of the Maple Leafs, who are 0-2-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets and have allowed nine goals in the two games.
They said it
“It was 5-to-1 (in power plays) tonight and that’s tough, especially on a back-to-back, having to use all that energy against a team like that. [Power plays are] a really strong part of their game with the type of skill and shooters they have.” — Maple Leafs captain John Tavares
“I have to tell you, tonight I wasn’t concerned when we were down 2-0. I thought they converted on a couple chances, but I had a good feeling about our team tonight. There was no panic, we stayed with our game, we built and built and built, shift after shift, and it was a matter of time.” — Capitals coach Todd Reirden
Need to know
Babcock coached his 1,286th game, passing Darryl Sutter for 13th place in NHL history. … Capitals defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (upper body) and forward Richard Panik (upper body) each left the game after colliding late in the second period. Reirden said they will be re-evaluated Thursday. … With three points, Carlson passed Sergei Gonchar (416) for fourth place in Capitals history among defensemen.
What’s next
Maple Leafs: Host the Boston Bruins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN1, NESN, NHL.TV)
Capitals: Host the New York Rangers on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, NBCSWA, MSG, NHL.TV)