Woll, Matthews power Maple Leafs past slumping Capitals

Joseph Woll made 36 saves when the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Washington Capitals 4-1 at Capital One Arena Tuesday.

“He’s been outstanding,” Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said of Woll. “I thought tonight was one of his best games that I’ve seen him play.”

Rielly and Auston Matthews each had a goal and an assist for Toronto (4-2-0), and John Tavares and William Nylander scored.

“We didn’t play a great game here tonight, but we did enough good things to put ourselves in position to win the game,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Certainly, our quick strike ability with our elite players puts us in position to be able to win games even we’re not at our best.”

Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the season for Washington (1-3-1), and Darcy Kuemper made 13 saves. Washington has scored six regulation goals in its five games this season.

“I think we had lots of opportunities,” said Ovechkin, who had 14 shots on goal. “I think we played the right way but we’re just in that period of time when we have to fight through it and don’t be panicking, don’t be frustrated. It’s just part of the process. I think we just have to play hard and [the puck] goes in.”

Rielly gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 12:53 of the first period with a power-play goal when he took a pass at the bottom of the right circle from Timothy Liljegren and beat Kuemper far side.

The Maple Leafs were outshot 17-5 in the first period.

“He kept us in it in that first period,” Matthews said of Woll. “They really came out flying and kind of took control of the game pretty early on, and he was just solid for us. He gave us a chance to hang in there.”

Ovechkin was awarded a penalty shot at 2:45 of the second period after he was hooked by Mark Giordano on a breakaway, but Woll made a blocker save on his backhand attempt.

“I was just trying as best I can to let myself make the read and not be guessing too much,” Woll said.

Tavares made it 2-0 at 5:41 redirecting a pass from Rielly past Kuemper.

Nylander increased the lead to 3-0 at 6:29 when he received a stretch pass from Matthews, got around defenseman Nick Jensen and lifted the puck over Kuemper’s shoulder.

“I think we had a really good start in the first period, a couple good chances and we didn’t score and then in the second, they got like two shots, two goals and then it’s just tough to come back,” Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary said.

Matthews made it 4-0 at 15:07, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle during a power play.

Ovechkin pulled Washington within 4-1 when he tipped in a pass from John Carlson at 19:49. It was the 300th power-play goal of his career and 823rd overall. He is 71 behind Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history.

“He looked different tonight, even another gear,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said of Ovechkin. “He was attacking all night. He was not deferring at all.”

Washington appeared to take a 1-0 lead at 4:15 of the first period when Nicklas Backstrom scored during a scramble in front. After taking a timeout, Toronto used a coach’s challenge for goalie interference and a video review overturned the call determining that Ovechkin, who took a shot and then fell into the net, impaired Woll’s ability to play his position in the crease.

“It was just the debate on whether Ovechkin driving through really impeded [Woll’s] ability to make a save or recover,” Keefe said. “Those are tough ones to call but the video guys felt strongly that it was (interference) and they needed some time to convince me of it.”