Capitals 3, Maple Leafs 2
No first names: Chorney, Oshie, Bernier, Ovechkin, Soshnikov, Grubauer
WASHINGTON -- Defenseman Matt Niskanen's power-play goal at 9:31 of the third period lifted the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
The matchup between the teams with the most and least points in the NHL was tied when Toronto right winger Nikita Soshnikov was called for boarding with 9:20 left.
Seconds later, Niskanen took a pass from center Nicklas Backstrom and fired a wrist shot from the point that got through a screen in front and past goaltender Jonathan Bernier.
Toronto center Colin Greening made it 2-2 with a wrister from the slot at 8:18 of the third period.
Washington, which had rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Pittsburgh on Tuesday, took an early 2-0 lead against Toronto when defenseman Taylor Chorney and left winger Alex Ovechkin scored 28 seconds apart late in the first period.
It was Ovechkin's league-leading 41st goal.
Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves for the Capitals (47-12-4).
Right winger T.J. Oshie assisted on all three goals and Nicklas Backstrom had two assists.
Soshnikov scored his first career goal and Bernier stopped 20 shots for Toronto (21-31-10), which has lost three straight.
Former Washington forward Brooks Laich returned to the Verizon Center three days after a trade sent him and defenseman Connor Carrick to Toronto in exchange for forward Daniel Winnik. Laich recorded two hits and blocked a shot in 14:17 of ice time.
Winnik made his Capitals debut Wednesday and recorded a shot and three hits 13:09.
Toronto failed on three first-period power plays and then fell behind 2-0 during a 28-second stretch shortly before the first intermission.
After defenseman Martin Maricin's turnover, Chorney took a pass from Oshie and fired over Bernier's left shoulder to make it 1-0 at 18:43. It was Chorney's first NHL goal since Feb. 15, 2011, when he was with Edmonton.
Ovechkin scored moments later when he one-timed a cross-ice backhand pass from Backstrom past Bernier.
Toronto halved the deficit 1:37 into the second period when Soshnikov, in his second game since being recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, beat Grubauer with a wrister from the right circle.
Bernier kept the deficit at one when he stopped Oshie with 29 seconds left in the second period.
Washington managed only 12 shots in the first 40 minutes.
NOTES: Capitals F Alex Ovechkin and F Evgeny Kuznetsov and D Dmitri Orlov were named to Team Russia for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Washington D John Carlson and F T.J. Oshie (Team USA), G Braden Holtby (Team Canada) and F Nicklas Backstrom (Team Sweden) were also selected for world cup rosters. ... Toronto D Morgan Rielly was named to Team North America and F Leo Komarov to Team Finland. ... Capitals D Nate Schmidt is day to day with a lower-body injury. C Michael Latta and RW Stanislav Galiev were also scratched for Washington. ... C Bryan Froese (broken hand) and RW Pierre-Alexander Parenteau (upper body) were the Toronto scratches.