Auston Matthews scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season as the Leafs survived a shaky opening period to improve to 4-2-0 this season.
Auston Matthews scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season as the Leafs survived a shaky opening period to improve to 4-2-0 this season.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It wasn't looking good early, but the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to find their groove in the second period when their core players exploded for goals in their 4-1 win against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Joseph Woll passes the test
The Maple Leafs were badly outshot 16-5 in the opening period. Much of why they were able to survive was due to the play of Joseph Woll. Making the start while Ilya Samsonov has been struggling. Woll proved he's up for the task of getting more starts after making 36 saves on 37 shots in the victory.
Woll made several timely saves, including a penalty-shot chance for Alex Ovechkin.
Later in the second period, Woll absolutely robs forward Matthew Phillips.
It would be a shock if Woll doesn't get the next start on Thursday against the Dallas Stars.
John Tavares and William Nylander extend point streaks to start the season
Tavares extended his points streak to six games to start the season after deflecting Morgan Rielly's shot that made it 2-0 Maple Leafs.
William Nylander followed suit with a goal that made it 3-0 Toronto in the second period.
Nylander extended his points streak to six games to start the season with five goals and five assists in that span. Tavares has three goals and nine assists to start the year.
Successful first-period challenge by Toronto
Things could have gotten off to a rocky start when Nicklas Backstrom appeared to have the opening goal of the game for the Capitals while on the power play. The Maple Leafs had a hard time deciding if they were going to challenge the play as Alex Ovechkin skated into Woll before the puck went into the net.
The Leafs proceeded to call a timeout before electing to challenge the play. They were successful and they kept the game 0-0.
Matthews back on the board.
After starting the season with back-to-back hat tricks, Auston Matthews found the back of the net to finish to score Toronto's fourth goal.
Other observations
John Klingberg still appears to be finding his footing with the Maple Leafs. In the first period, he collided with Matthews and had a near-miss with TJ Brodie. Rasmus Sandin, who was playing in his first game against the Leafs since he was traded to the Capitals back in February, was not much of a factor in the game. Rielly and Matthews led the Leafs with a goal and an assist each.
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