Maple Leafs 3, Capitals 2
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While Phil Kessel continues to search for his first goal of the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are beginning to find ways to win without his offense.
James van Riemsdyk scored a pair of goals, rookie defenseman Korbinian Holzer netted the first goal of his NHL career and backup goaltender Ben Scrivens turned aside 23 of 25 shots to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals in front of a sellout crowd at Verizon Center on Tuesday night.
The Leafs (5-5-0) ended a two-game losing streak. The Capitals (2-7-1) have lost four of their last five games and remain last in the Eastern Conference.
Recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League on Sunday, Holzer scored his first NHL goal in his fourth NHL game when he blasted a shot through the pads of Washington goaltender Michal Neuvirth 10:34 into the second period to give the Leafs a 3-1 lead.
It stood up as the game winner.
The Capitals drew within 3-2 on a power-play goal by Mike Ribeiro with 6:47 gone in the third period but Scrivens was solid down the stretch to improve to 2-2-0.
Alex Ovechkin finished with four shots for the Caps but remains stuck on two goals. On Ribeiro's goal he rumbled into the offensive zone and fed Troy Brouwer, who dished to Ribeiro in the right circle. Ribeiro took his time measuring Scrivens and beat him with a high shot under the crossbar.
Van Riemsdyk gave the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead with goals 2:35 apart in the opening period.
His first came midway through the period on a bad exchange between Washington goaltender Michal Neuvirth and defenseman Tom Poti. Neuvirth went behind his net to leave the puck for Poti, but van Riemsdyk swooped in to steal the puck and use his massive wing span to tuck a wrap-around backhander into the open net.
Van Riemsdyk netted his second goal of the night team-high sixth of the season a few shifts later when he finished off an aborted 3-on-2 by jabbing a shot past a scrambling Neuvirth.
The Capitals got back in the game when Kessel took a holding penalty tht led to Marcus Johansson's power-play goal, his first of the season. Nicklas Backstrom started the play by fishing the puck away from Toronto netminder Ben Scrivens, who was making his fourth start of the season. Backstrom fed defenseman Tomas Kundratek in the left circle and the rookie blue-liner found Johansson at the side of the net.
NOTES: Kundratek's assist on Johansson's goal was the first point of his career. Washington entered the game ranked 25th in scoring, averaging 2.33 goals per game. After netting a career-high 37 goals and 82 points last season, Kessel entered Tuesday night's game with no goals on 40 shots and four assists in nine games. Maple Leafs right wing Matt Frattin entered the game with five goals in his previous six games. ... Ribeiro entered the game with a team-high 10 points and had four multi-point games. ... Washington was without forward Brooks Laich (groin) and defenseman Jack Hillen (shoulder). Laich has resumed skating and could return to the lineup within a week or two. ... Toronto was without forward Mike Brown (upper body) and defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (lower body). Both are day-to-day, while forward Joffrey Lupul (broken forearm) is on injured reserve. ... Capitals defenseman John Erskine served the second of a three-game suspension for elbowing Philadelphia forward Wayne Simmonds. He will complete the suspension Thursday night in Pittsburgh and is eligible to return on Saturday against the Florida Panthers. ... The Leafs continue their three-game road trip with stops in Winnipeg on Thursday and Montreal on Saturday.
