Bertuzzi’s 2 goals help Maple Leafs defeat Capitals

Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

“That was big for us,” Bertuzzi said. “Really good first period. Big goal by [Mark Giordano] to get us going and we didn’t let off the gas and played a good full 60 (minutes).”

Giordano scored in his return after missing 12 games with a concussion, and Joseph Woll made 24 saves for the Maple Leafs (41-22-9), who had lost their previous two games, including 6-3 to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Toronto extended its lead to four points over the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division.

“The team played great, made my job pretty easy tonight,” Woll said. “I thought we did a good job all the way throughout the game. That’s the kind of response you want to see from our team.”

Nic Dowd scored, and Charlie Lindgren made 43 saves for the Capitals (36-27-9), who had won three in a row and six of seven. The remained two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, and one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

“From the start of the game, you could feel that our group was overwhelmed early on,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “Just with the speed of the game, the way things were happening, you could see a bunch of puck touches where we bobble it. We were fighting it early. It was just too quick for us tonight.

“It’s a really hard matchup for us because they’re so fast. We struggle with really good skating teams that can put you on your heels. It’s just not a strength of our team.”

The Maple Leafs went up 1-0 at 10:09 of the first period when Giordano, playing his first game since Feb. 29, took a pass from Matthew Knies and shot high to the blocker side from above the left face-off circle. It ended 30-game goal drought since he last scored Oct. 28 against the Nashville Predators.

“You just feel good for him,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It’s a big goal. It’s funny how these things work out. He comes to the rink this morning. ‘Gio’ wasn’t supposed to play. … As we know, Gio is the ultimate professional, he’s worked extremely hard to get back and be ready. He’s been through a lot and for that to go his way, post and in and all that, that was great.”

Giordano pointed skyward after the goal to honor his father Paul, who died last month.

“It was something I promised I would do after my dad passed away there if I scored,” Giordano said. “The way it was going, it looked like it might not happen, but it was nice to get that one … It was pretty special for me.”

Bertuzzi made it 2-0 18 seconds into the second period when he banked a shot off Lindgren from behind the net.

Dowd cut it to 2-1 at 5:27 when he deflected a shot from Nick Jensen at the right hash marks.

Connor Dewar put the Maple Leafs up 3-1 at 11:38, backhanding a loose puck past Lindgren’s outstretched left pad at the top of the goal crease. It was the forward’s first goal with Toronto in his ninth game since being traded from the Minnesota Wild on March 8.

“Quite honestly one of my favorite goals of the season,” Keefe said. “That’s a coach’s goal in a lot of ways. … I thought in that particular point in the game, we were spending a little too much time in our end, but those guys (Dewar, David Kampf and Ryan Reaves) drove the puck down the ice, took care of it, scored a huge goal. That’s a big goal in the game to make it a two-goal game.”

Bobby McMann pushed it to 4-1 at 1:06 of the third period. He took a pass from John Tavares on a 2-on-1 and scored with a one-timer that went off Lindgren’s left pad and bounced in off Jensen’s skate.

“We were just a little sleepy tonight on a lot of plays,” Capitals forward T.J. Oshie said. “We’re not a team that can play without guys getting the puck and moving their feet. We’re not a team that can have success if we’re not keeping things simple and moving the puck quickly, and we are certainly not a team that can turn pucks over in the neutral zone. We did all those things not very well tonight.”

Bertuzzi scored his second of the game at 10:11 for the 5-1 final. He knocked down a pass from Trevor van Riemsdyk, who was skating out from behind the net, and shot past Lindgren, who was out of position. It was Bertuzzi’s fourth goal in his past five games. He had one goal in 32 games from Nov. 28 to Feb. 15.

“Puck luck is a big part of it,” Keefe said. “Like today he gets one from below the goal line. I mean, he couldn’t get one from above the goal line wide open with empty nets before. Now they’re going in for him, but he’s worked and continued to put himself in good spots. … I’ve maintained all the way through this that ‘Bert’ is going to be a very important player for us.”