Maple Leafs 2, Capitals 1
TORONTO - Left winger Joffrey Lupul scored the decisive goal in a shootout as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 on Saturday.
While goaltender James Reimer kept the Maple Leafs in the game by stopping 49 of 50 shots before the shootout, Washington goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 27 of 28 shots.
Right winger David Clarkson scored midway through the second period to give the Maple Leafs the lead. Left winger Alex Ovechkin scored for the Capitals late in the third period to tie game.
The shootout was 1-1 after the first round of three shooters, then Lupul scored as Toronto's fourth shooter and right winger Troy Brouwer missed for the Caps to give the Leafs the win.
Both teams were coming into the game with losses at home. The Capitals were coming off a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, their second successive home loss.
The Leafs lost 4-2 on Thursday to the Nashville Predators to snap a five-game winning streak at home. The Leafs have not lost two in a row at home this season.
The Capitals (12-10-2) had a 28-19 advantage in shots on goal after two periods but the Leafs (14-8-1) had the 1-0 lead.
Then Ovechkin fired home his 20th goal of the season from just above the left faceoff circle after taking a pass from defenseman Mike Green at 15:50 of the third period to end Reimer's bid for his second shutout of the season.
The Capitals had the first power play of the game when Leafs left winger Mason Raymond was called for hooking at 1:02 of the second period but managed three ineffective shots.
The Caps also had the second man-advantage situation of the game when Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf was called for roughing at 6:02 of the second. Reimer was forced to make a good save on defenseman John Carlson's shot from the left point during the power play.
The Leafs took advantage of their first power play of the game when Clarkson scored his second goal of the season, deflecting a point shot by defenseman Jake Gardiner at 10:08 of the second.
It came after Capitals right winger Eric Fehr was sent off for interference. Center Nazem Kadri also picked up an assist on the goal that survived a video review to determine that it was not put in with a high stick.
The Capitals outshot the Leafs 11-10 in the first period that had no goals or penalties. Both teams had their chances with possibly the best going to Leafs left winger Nikolai Kulemin who was robbed by Holtby with 3:11 to play in the period.
NOTES: Capitals C Mikhail Grabovski returned to the Air Canada Centre Saturday for the first time since the Maple Leafs bought out the final four years of his contract in the off-season and he signed as a free agent with Washington. ? Leafs C Tyler Bozak (hamstring) missed his 12th consecutive game Saturday but D Mark Fraser (knee) was in the lineup after missing two games. ? Toronto signed RW Connor Brown, their sixth-round draft pick in 2012, to a three-year entry level contract. The 19-year-old leads the Ontario Hockey League in scoring with 19 goals and 27 assists in 23 games for the Erie Otters. ? Caps RW Eric Fehr, who missed the previous nine games as a healthy scratch, returned to the lineup on Saturday, replacing RW Martin Erat, who was left out of the lineup.
