The Washington Capitals fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1 Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada. The loss drops the Capitals record to 36-27-9 (81 points) on the season.
The Leafs opened the scoring midway through the opening stanza with a goal from Mark Giordano and held the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Just 18 seconds into the middle frame, Tyler Bertuzzi made it 2-0, but the Capitals answered just over five minutes later on Nic Dowd’s tenth goal of the season, making it 2-1. The Leafs restored their two-goal lead five minutes later on Connor Dewar’s 11th goal of the season and took the 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
The Leafs made it 4-1 just over a minute into the final period on Bobby McMann‘s 14th goal of the season. The Leafs made it 5-1 midway through the frame following a turnover behind the Capitals net that led to Tyler Bertuzzi’s second of the game. That would be the final.
LINEUP
Charlie Lindgren (21-12-5, 2.68 GAA, .912 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Capitals. Joseph Woll (10-9-1, 2.96 GAA, 908 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Maple Leafs. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Connor McMichael — T.J. Oshie
Max Pacioretty — Dylan Strome —Ivan Miroshnichenko
Mike Sgarbossa — Hendrix Lapierre — Aliaksei Protas
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: Forward Sonny Milano (upper body injury), defenseman Ethan Bear (players assistance program), right-wing Tom Wilson (six-game suspension), forward Matthew Phillips, defenseman Vincent Iorio, Center Nicklas Backstrom (hip injury).
1ST PERIOD
Mark Giordano, in his first game back after missing nearly a month with a concussion, opened the scoring at 10:09 of the first period.
Welcome back Mark Giordano! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/N65muSFpoG
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 28, 2024
And that was it for the scoring in the first period. Five-on-five shot attempts were tied 20-20.
2ND PERIOD
The Leafs stretched their lead to 2-o just 18 seconds into the middle frame. Tyler Bertuzzi (17) knocked home Toronto’s second marker from behind the goal.
BEEEEEAUUUUUUUUTYYYYY BANK!!! pic.twitter.com/AKDhdeRkNO
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 29, 2024
The Capitals finally got on the scoreboard on Nic Dowd’s tenth goal of the season at 5:27 of the second period. Nick Jensen (12) and Hendrix Lapierre (10) had the helpers.
Dowdah deflection beauty gets us back in it pic.twitter.com/FmYOX9PR9o
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 29, 2024
The Maple Leafs restored their two-goal lead on Connor Dewar’s 11th goal of the season at 11:38 of the middle frame.
DEWEY’S FIRST AS A LEAF!! pic.twitter.com/sNS0RQAgI0
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 29, 2024
The Leafs held the 3-1 lead into the second intermission. The Leafs also led in five-on-five shot attempts, 24-16 in the middle frame.
3RD PERIOD
TheLeafs made it 4-1 just 1:06 into the final frame on Bobby McMann‘s 14th goal of the season.
BINGO BOBBO!! pic.twitter.com/YvQFoSmnmh
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 29, 2024
Tyler Bertuzzi scored his second goal of the night following a turnover by Trevor van Riemsdyk to make it 5-2.
BerTWOOOOOzzi!!! pic.twitter.com/v5rNXH5sOd
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 29, 2024
That would be the final.
SHAVINGS (via Capitals PR)
- Nic Dowd scored his 10th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 2-1. Dowd has scored in back-to-back games.Dowd has reached the 10-goal mark for the fourth-straight season.
- Nick Jensen recorded the primary assist on Dowd’s goal, his 12th assist of the season. Jensen has tallied an assist in consecutive games and has four assists in his last six games.
By Jon Sorensen