Toronto @ Washington preview
Capital One Arena
Last Meeting ( Mar 28, 2024 ) Washington 1, Toronto 5
The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to bounce back from a disappointing loss when they visit the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
The Maple Leafs are coming off a 3-0 setback against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
After falling behind 41 seconds into the contest, the Leafs allowed the final two tallies in 43 seconds early in the second period. They were outshot 35-18 over the first two periods.
"Not a good game for us," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "There wasn't much good to talk about in the game overall. We got outskated; they wanted it more than us. That's the bottom line."
The loss snapped Toronto's three-game winning streak, during which the team outscored its opponents 11-2. Much of that had been fueled by a surging power play, which went 7-for-13 (a staggering 53.8 percent clip) over the three games.
But while the man advantage was rolling, the Maple Leafs have struggled to get their offense going at 5-on-5, scoring just one goal in that situation over their past five outings. William Nylander, who leads the team with 11 goals, hasn't connected at 5-on-5 since tallying twice in a win against the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 31.
Tuesday's defeat is the latest instance of early-season struggles against under .500 foes for the Maple Leafs, who also have lost to the St. Louis Blues (twice) and Columbus Blue Jackets over the past three weeks.
Perhaps, then, a game against the Capitals is just what is needed to get back on track.
Washington has won 10 of its 14 games this season. Its 20 points are tied with Toronto, but the Capitals have played three fewer games.
The Capitals have been idle since an 8-1 throttling of the Blues on Saturday. Washington led 3-1 after two periods before adding five goals in the third period.
Superstar captain Alex Ovechkin kicked off the third-period surge with a power-play goal. And while Washington was once known for its dominant play with the man advantage, it's been anything but this season. The Capitals have just six goals on 48 opportunities thus far, a meager 12.5 percent clip that is tied with the Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders for second-worst in the NHL.
"That's what the power play can do," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. "In tight games, it obviously can help you. In a 1-1 game, you get a power play, score, win the game, you go up 2-1. But also in a game like this, where 3-1 is still a hockey game in this league. The fourth goal is big, and the power play stepped up and scored that."
The power-play conversion was one of two tallies on the night for Ovechkin, who has 863 career goals as he continues to inch closer to Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894. The 39-year-old's hot start -- he has 10 goals in 14 games -- has been a stark contrast from a season ago, when it took him 45 games to reach double digits.
"He energizes the whole team," center Dylan Strome said. "Everyone wants to see him score. Obviously, we're all working toward that record and we're winning hockey games. Both are going well, and hopefully we can keep going."
--Field Level Media