Maple Leafs at Capitals
The Washington Capitals take aim at the best start in franchise history when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. The Capitals continued their domination of the Boston Bruins with a 4-1 victory on Thursday night to improve to 9-3-0 and match the 1991-92 and 2011-12 squads for the most victories in the first 12 games of a season.
Washington coach Barry Trotz liked the way his team rebounded from a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers in handling the Bruins. “If you lose a game, the most important game is the next game,” Trotz told reporters after Thursday's contest. “ ... In this league, if you have a bad week, you can find yourselves out of the playoffs.” The Maple Leafs capped a 1-2-1 homestand with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night to fall to a league-worst 2-8-3. Toronto averted a shutout with 62 seconds to play but has been limited to one goal or less seven times.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CBC (Toronto), CSN-Plus Washington
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (2-8-3): Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf forced overtime Friday with the tying tally, putting an end to the defenseman's 33-game goalless drought dating to Feb. 26. Nazem Kadri has gone nine contests without a goal despite leading the team with 53 shots, but he drew three more penalties Friday to give him eight in 14 games after leading the league with 31 drawn infractions last season. Toronto had converted on 3-of-8 chances on the power play in its previous two games before failing on all four opportunities against Detroit.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (9-3-0): Washington had yet to get a goal from its fourth line, a drought that ended when Brooks Laich netted the go-ahead tally against Boston for his first goal of the season. “I still consider myself a two-way player, not just a penalty killer or defensive-assignment player,” he said. “I still consider myself a two-way player and put a lot of pressure on myself to produce, and it’s frustrating when pucks don’t go in. It really is.” Ovechkin needs one goal to tie Sergei Fedorov (483) for the most in NHL history by a Russian-born player.
OVERTIME
1. Washington is 16-0-3 in its last 19 games against the Atlantic Division.
2. Toronto has trailed after one period in 10 of its 13 games while holding a lead just once.
3. Ovechkin, who has points in 10 of 11 games this season, has 30 goals and 23 assists in 36 games versus Toronto.