Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 (OT) in game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal. The Leafs now lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is this Wednesday night at Air Canada Center. Puck drop is 7:00 PM. 

Braden Holtby got the start in goal for the Capitals. Frederik Andersen got the start between the pipes for the Maple Leafs. Karl Alzner was scratched due to an upper body injury. This was Alzner’s first game missed since April 26, 2010 (GM6 vs #Habs ECQF). Taylor Chorney, and Paul Carey were the healthy scratches for game three. The starting lines for the Capitals:

#Caps lineup tonight in Toronto: 8-19-77, 90-92-14, 10-20-65, 26-83-43. Defense: 88-74, 9-2, 44-22. Holtby vs. Andersen. #CapsLeafs

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) April 17, 2017

QUICK NOTES:

• Nicklas Backstrom’s goal in the first period (22) passed Dino Ciccarelli (21) for fourth place on the #Caps playoff goals list.
• Nicklas Backstrom earned multiple points, marking his 14th career postseason multi-point game.
• Capitals last 6 postseason losses all by 1 goal.

FIRST PERIOD:
Nicklas Backstrom opened the games scoring on the back-end of a nice feed from Nate Schmidt at 2:43 of the first period..

Alex Ovechkin would make it 2-0 on a blast from the left point at the 4:49 mark of the opening frame.

The Maple Leafs would get on the board when Auston Matthews knocked home a crazy bounce off of Nate Schmidt at 14:08 of the first frame.

The period would end with the Capitals leading 2-1. The Maple Leafs led in shots on goal 10-7 for the period. For the first time in this series, the Capitals led at intermission.

SECOND PERIOD:
Evgeny Kuznetsov would give the Capitals their second two-goal lead with a sweet shot from the left side to make it 3-1 at the 5:39 mark of the middle frame.

The Leafs would strike back with a deflected goal by Nazem Kadri at 15:13 of the second period, closing the gap to 3-2.

The Maple Leafs would tie the game in the waning moments of the second period with a goal by William Nylander at 19:20 of the second period.

The period would end with the game tied 3-3. The Caps outshot the Maple Leafs 15-8 for the middle frame. The Caps led 22-18 in shots on goal through two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD:
The third period carried over the furious pace from the previous two periods, but would ultimately go scoreless. The Maple Leafs outshot the Capitals 9-3 for the final frame. The Leafs led in shots on goal 27-25 for the third period. The Capitals ended the period with a high-sticking call on Lars Eller, giving the Maple Leafs a power play of 1:45 to start the overtime.

OVERTIME:
The Leafs would win in overtime on the power play. Tyler Bozak would notch the game winner at the 1:37 mark of the extra frame.

By Jon Sorensen
Follow @NoVa_Caps

SCENES FROM TORONTO

Stage is set. #CapsLeafs #RockTheRed pic.twitter.com/68Epab3wsF

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 17, 2017

🔥up #Gr8 pic.twitter.com/E67jDeJqGw

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 17, 2017

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#CapsLeafs #Capitals #RockTheRed #LetsGoCaps #александровечкин #овечкин

A post shared by NoVa Caps (@nova_caps) on Apr 17, 2017 at 12:18pm PDT