The Toronto Maple Leafs have put themselves in a terrible situation because of their ignorance and poor timing.
WASHINGTON The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Washington Capitals 7-3 at Capital One Arena on Wednesday thanks in large part to two goals and three assists from Auston Matthews.
The Maple Leafs (39-20-9) had lost two straight (0-1-1) and were coming off a 4-3 setback at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. Matthews tied his NHL career high with five points, and linemate Max Domi added four assists. With 18 saves in his first start since March 7, Joseph Woll recorded a goal and two assists, while William Nylander and John Tavares each earned two assists.
Sheldon Keefe, the coach of Toronto, stated, “Those guys had a little more time with the puck today and they just made plays.” “Max was excellent. For the most part of the game tonight, I thought Auston put on a clinic.
In the Atlantic Division, Toronto sits seven points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place.
The Capitals (33-26-9), who had won three straight games, are one point behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card into the Eastern Conference Stanley Cup Playoffs. Alex Ovechkin scored twice for the team. There were 23 saves by Charlie Lindgren.
“Clearly, we don’t have a single response for [Matthews] tonight. Spencer Carbery, the coach of Washington, stated, “So that’s a problem.” “Although I believe we accomplished a lot of good things overall, we just had a few unusual incidents that just don’t happen at this time of year.”
Watch Video TOR@WSH: Domi’s pass is intercepted by Matthews to open the score early.
16 seconds into the match, Matthews gave Toronto the lead. After Domi found a loose puck behind the Washington net, Matthews scored from just past the crease with an assist from Domi.
Domi is such a clever player, according to Matthews. “He makes it simpler on me and [Tyler Bertuzzi] to get into space and try to find each other because he can make plays, moves spatially well, and just communicates a lot out there. I thought the chemistry tonight was great.
At 56 seconds into the second half, Nylander doubled the lead. From the right face-off circle, he took a pass from Tavares and scored over Lindgren’s left shoulder.
At 9:57 during the power play, Ovechkin scored a one-timer from the left circle’s bottom after receiving a pass from John Carlson to bring the Capitals within 2-1.
At 12:59, Matthews tied the score at 1-1 with his NHL-leading 57th goal of the year, taking a wrist shot from the right point and scoring through a screen.
“We are merely attempting to establish the tone and regain the momentum on our end,” Matthews stated in response to the next phrase. It’s truly that easy, and it was encouraging to see that we got a response when they did manage to close the deficit. All we want to do is carry that over. These games get increasingly significant as they go on.
At 13:34, Connor McMichael trimmed the lead to 3-2. After Woll deflected a shot from Rasmus Sandin that went off the end boards, McMichael was able to bank the ball in behind Woll.
At 16:42, Matthews looked to have completed the hat trick, but Washington’s offside challenge resulted in the goal being reversed.
At 19:35, a shot from Domi bounced off Jake McCabe and past Lindgren to give Toronto a 4-2 lead.
“As soon as we close the gap, they manage to extend their lead,” stated Washington captain Alex Ovechkin. “It’s annoying.”
