Capitals come back from two down to win in OT
WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored 22 seconds into overtime as the Washington Capitals rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin took a crossing pass from John Carlson and ripped a quick shot from the left circle past Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen, ending the Leafs' five-game winning streak.
Washington now has won three in a row.
Carlson scored the goal that sent the game into overtime by tapping in a loose puck from in front with 6:05 left in the third period. Toronto led 4-2 heading into the third period.
Frederik Gauthier, Nazem Kadri, Connor Brown and Leo Komarov each scored once for Toronto. High-scoring rookie Auston Matthews added two assists and now has points in seven straight games.
James van Riemsdyk also finished with two assists. In addition, the Leafs scored two power-play goals after the Capitals entered the game having killed off 29 straight penalties.
But Toronto ran into third-period trouble for a second straight game.
The Leafs allowed three third-period goals Sunday in their win over Detroit and it happened again. Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov scored just 79 seconds apart early in the period, which tied the score at 4.
Toronto's Mitch Marner and Carlson traded goals after that. Justin Williams (one goal, three assists) got his final assist on the Carlson goal.
Toronto's Nikita Zaitsev was called for hooking 33 seconds into the game and Justin Williams deflected a Orlov shot past Andersen at 1:14 for a 1-0 lead in a high-scoring first period.
The Leafs tied it on Kadri's power-play goal at 6:39 of the period. Toronto went ahead 2-1 on Brown's wrist shot with 8:16 left with Matthews getting his first assist.
Washington tied it with four minutes remaining in the period. Williams came out of the penalty box and fed T.J. Oshie, who beat Andersen with a quick shot.
Gauthier gave the Leafs the lead back with 1:54 left in the first period. Washington had allowed only 14 first-period goals, but Toronto scored three times on only eight shots -- and nearly had a few more.
Capitals coach Barry Trotz replaced Holtby in goal with Philipp Grubauer to start the second period.
Grubauer stopped the first eight shots until Komarov scored with 6:27 left in that second period. Matthews set him up with a great spinning pass from behind the cage, and Komarov beat Grubauer on the power play for a 4-2 lead.
NOTES: Capitals D Matt Niskanen played his 200th game with the team. He got his 200th career assist in the victory against the Devils on Dec. 31. ... D Taylor Chorney played in only six games before Washington's 2-1 victory over Ottawa on Sunday, where he scored the winning goal. But Chorney returned to the lineup for this game. ... For Toronto, C Auston Matthews was named the NHL's First Star of the Week for last week. He topped the league with six points (four goals, two assists) in three games -- all of which the Leafs won. He also was named the league's Rookie of the Month for December. ... The Maple Leafs loaned F Byron Froese to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL on Monday and assigned D Frank Corrado to the Marlies on a conditioning loan.