Gutsy Maple Leafs rally in the third period to beat Capitals in a shootout

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WASHINGTON — Don’t count out the Maple Leafs, as fatigued as they might have been.

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Down 3-1 against the Washington Capitals on the second night of a back-to-back set, the Leafs rallied in the third period at Capital One Arena and won 4-3 in a shootout on Sunday night.

The gutsy Leafs got the victory after getting one point in an overtime loss in Florida against the Panthers on Saturday.

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It was a fine way to end the three-game trip.

Alex Kerfoot, the 14th shooter, got the deciding goal, beating Vitek Vanecek between the legs.

At 3:19 of overtime, the Leafs were called for too many men on the ice — their NHL-high 15th bench minor — but managed to kill it off.

With goalie Erik Kallgren on the bench, Jason Spezza poked the puck past Capitals goalie Vanecek with 57.3 seconds left in regulation to tie the game 3-3.

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Ilya Mikheyev scored his 20th for the Leafs with 7 1/2 minutes remaining to get Toronto to within one.

Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin didn’t finish the game after slamming into the end boards when he was tripped by Kallgren. Ovechkin failed to score on a breakaway after a turnover by Kerfoot, and then was in clear pain, favoring his shoulder as he departed. The Caps announced Ovechkin suffered an upper-body injury and would not return.

The Ovechkin injury got the Caps’ juices flowing, and they scored twice in a span of 68 seconds to take control of the game.

Lars Eller had an easy tap-in on a great pass from Martin Fehervary at 3:32. At 4:40, no Leafs were in sight when Marcus Johansson slipped the puck past Kallgren.

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All that stands between the Leafs and the post-season are home games against Detroit on Tuesday and Boston on Friday.

For the first time this season, Auston Matthews has gone five games without a goal, though he had two assists. Mitch Marner had one assist to get him to 97 points.

With the start of the playoffs just over a week away, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe went into load management mode, sitting captain John Tavares, who had played in all but one game this season, and defenseman Timothy Liljegren.

“It’s just an opportunity for us to give him a breather,” Keefe said of resting Tavares. “He has played a lot of hockey.

“Liljegren has had some bumps along the way, so he needs a night off.”

While the Leafs don’t yet know the full extent of the injury to Michael Bunting, there was some initial good news on Sunday regarding his status. The hard-working winger departed in the first period against Florida on Saturday after falling awkwardly behind the Panthers net.

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“The only update would be just that he woke up feeling a lot better than expected, frankly, based on how he was feeling (after the game),” Keefe said. “It’s a really good sign for us, but we won’t know more about him until we get home and get him a chance to get looked at.”

Bunting leads all NHL rookies with 63 points. In second was the Anaheim Ducks’ Trevor Zegras, who had 58 points going into Sunday night.

The Bunting situation, of course, is not ideal with the playoffs on the horizon. The Leafs have no interest in starting the post-season without Bunting and Ondrej Kase, who continue to diligently work his way back from a concussion. Both Bunting and Kase thrive when the game gets intense and neither would be easily replaceable in May.

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The Leafs will be keeping their fingers crossed that tests on Bunting come back with a positive outlook. Once given the opportunity, Bunting didn’t need much time to make an impact on the top line with Matthews and Marner.

“It’s a big loss for us,” Keefe said. “He’s a unique player for our group, with his skill set and his energy and his attitude that he plays with. We’ve grown to really appreciate what he does.”

Keefe started the game with Nick Abruzzese in the Bunting spot, but quickly went to William Nylander on the wing.

With Bunting and Tavares out, Jason Spezza and Abruzzese drew in. Carl Dahlstrom came in for Liljegren on the blue line, while Jake Muzzin missed his sixth game in a row with an undisclosed injury.

Both teams had a goal called back in the second period after a coach’s challenge.

Washington opened the scoring at 5:34 of the first period when TJ Oshie beat Kallgren over the goalie’s left shoulder.

Leafs defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who had two goals in his previous 208 NHL games, tied it at 12:32 when his shot eluded Vanecek.

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