Bozak's OT goal gives Leafs 2-1 series lead over Caps
TORONTO -- Tyler Bozak scored a power-play goal at 1:37 of overtime, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 on Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
All three games have gone to overtime.
Game 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre
Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri and William Nylander also scored for the Maple Leafs. Matthews added an assist.
Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals. Backstrom also had an assist, and T.J. Oshie recorded two assists.
Frederik Andersen made 23 saves in the Toronto goal. Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby made 24 stops.
Washington twice had two-goal leads.
The Maple Leafs scored the final two goals of the second period to send the game to the third period tied at 3.
It stayed that way through the third period, and when Washington's Lars Eller took a high-sticking penalty at 19:44, Toronto opened the overtime on the power play and took advantage of it.
The Capitals scored two early goals in the first period.
Backstrom's second goal of the playoffs came while unchecked on a pass from defenseman Nate Schmidt at 2:43 with the team playing four skaters after coincidental minors.
At 4:49, Ovechkin made it 2-0 when he hammered a shot from the high slot for his second goal of the playoffs on a setup from Backstrom.
Matthews knocked in his own rebound for his first playoff goal at 14:08 of the first period to pull Toronto within 2-1.
At 5:39 of the second period, Kuznetsov scored from a sharp angle on a rebound to restore Washington's two-goal margin.
The Capitals failed to take advantage of a five-on-three advantage for two minutes that started at 6:52.
When the penalties expired, Toronto's Mitch Marner had a chance for a breakaway on a long clearing pass, but Holtby just beat him to the puck and knocked it away.
Kadri's first goal of the playoffs found its way through at 15:13 of the second period to cut the lead to one.
Nylander scored his first goal of the playoffs at 19:20 of the second on his own rebound to tie the score.
NOTES: Toronto D Nikita Zaitsev (upper body injury) returned to the lineup for the first time in the playoffs Monday, taking the place of D Roman Polak (lower body), who is out for the rest of the season after being injured in Game 2. .... The Maple Leafs scored the first goal in each of the first two games of the series. ... The Maple Leafs hosted their first home playoff game since May 12, 2013, when they defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1.