Bolstered by the return of three players from injury, the Toronto Maple Leafs will go for a second straight win Friday when they visit the Washington Capitals.
Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies and Nicolas Roy came back from injury Wednesday and Toronto earned a 2-1 overtime road victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Maple Leafs have split the first two of six straight on the road, but have won only two of their past nine.
Against Columbus, William Nylander scored his 15th career overtime goal, passing Mats Sundin for the team record. It would not have been possible without the goaltending of Joseph Woll, who made 35 saves.
“It was a huge, huge win for us, and just pumped to get it done,” Woll said. “We stuck to our game plan, grinded one out on the road. It’s great to get the two points there.”
“Goalie was really good,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “His battle was really good. He fought through traffic. He was seeing everything well. He looked sharp. Looks like he’s on his toes, playing a lot of pucks.”
The Maple Leafs have depended on Woll with fellow goaltender Anthony Stolarz injured. Woll missed the early season because of a personal issue.
“He’s been a very calming presence, is the best way I can describe it with him back there,” defenseman Jake McCabe said. “He’s done a very, very good job and been good with the puck and talking to us D-men.”
Nylander assisted on Easton Cowan’s second career goal that tied the game at 16:43 of the third period.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson earned his 14th assist of the season on Nylander’s goal. The defenseman is on a seven-game point streak (two goals, five assists).
Knies also assisted on Nylander’s goal, while Matthews and Roy were held off the scoresheet. Matthews had three shots on goal in 24:35 of ice time.
“I felt good,” Matthews said. “Just trying to get the legs under me the first half of the game, but I just thought as the game went on I felt more and more comfortable.”
The Capitals will look to finish their four-game homestand with a 3-1 record. They have won five of their past six after defeating the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on Wednesday.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin was honored before the game for the milestones he recently achieved: 900 goals and 1,500 games.
Fittingly, he scored his 11th goal of the season and the 908th of his career in the second period that gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead.
“That was a huge goal for us,” said Washington defenseman John Carlson, who also scored. “That was awesome, especially after such an important and cool and amazing tribute to him. Like always, it’s always fitting to celebrate him, and to come up with a big play at a big time from our captain is enormous.”
Jakob Chychrun extended his goal streak to four games, scoring five times in that span.
The Capitals endured a 2-6-2 spell before their recent success.
“We’re figuring out who we are,” said Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who stopped 18 shots. “At the start of the year, it felt like we were back and forth trying to figure it out. … Wins were maybe a little tougher to come by but now we’re playing with more consistency, and it’s been fun to watch us.”
–Field Level Media
