Joseph Woll made 24 saves in a bounce-back performance and Mark Giordano scored after a long injury absence as the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Thursday.
Tyler Bertuzzi, with two goals to give him six in his last seven games, Conner Dewar and Bobby McMann provided the rest of the offense for Toronto (41-22-9).
Nic Dowd responded for Washington (36-27-9). Charlie Lindgren stopped 43 shots.
Woll was solid after allowing a goal on the first shot in his last two starts, including Tuesday’s ugly 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils that left head coach Sheldon Keefe fuming over the entire team’s “immature” performance. Template.
The Leafs entered the game just two points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, for third place in the Atlantic Division with one game in hand.
Meanwhile, the Capitals entered the night in the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings with a game in hand.
Toronto sharpshooter Auston Matthews, who leads the NHL with 59 goals, suited up despite missing the morning skate with an illness.
The Leafs, however, lacked much talent. First-line winger Mitch Marner missed a ninth straight game with a sprained ankle, while defensemen Morgan Rielly (upper body), Timothy Liljegren (upper body) and Joel Edmundson (undisclosed) also sat out .
Washington star Alex Ovechkin hit the Scotiabank Arena ice with 18 goals in his last 25 games to move within 46 of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark of 894 after scoring just eight times in the first 43 games of the season.
Playing for the first time since suffering a concussion on Feb. 29, Giordano scored his second goal of the season, and first in 31 games, at 10:09 of the first period.
The league’s oldest player in 2023-24 at age 40, the veteran blueliner pointed to the sky in celebration after his father, Paul, died suddenly last month.
Woll had to be smarter later, when he waited for Nick Jensen at the door.
Destroyed by Keefe on Tuesday when their frame completely fell apart after a 25-shot first period, the Leafs were more connected in all three zones and fired 19 pucks at Lindgren over 20 minutes.
Bertuzzi made it 2-0 just 18 seconds into the second when he scored his 17th off the Washington netminder, but Dowd got it back when he scored his 10th at 5:27.
Dewar restored Toronto’s two-goal lead when he scored his 11th putback, and first with the Leafs since they were acquired from the Minnesota Wild at the NHL trade deadline, at 11:38 before Lindgren robbed Matthews scored his 60th goal at the end of the period.
McMann put the home team up 4-1 at 1:06 of the third with a shot that Lindgren stopped at full length before the puck bounced off Jenson.
Bertuzzi added his number 18 after a turnover at 10:11.
CARBERY, SANDÍN RETURNS
Washington head coach Spencer Carbery and defenseman Rasmus Sandin returned to Scotiabank Arena for the first time since leaving Toronto last year.
Sandin was traded to the Capitals before the 2023 trade deadline. Carbery, who spent two seasons as a Toronto assistant, was hired by Washington in May.
“I always appreciated being in this organization,” Carbery said of the Leafs. “The pressure that came with this… means you were doing something important.”
HALL CALL
Keefe, who grew up in the Toronto suburb of Brampton, was announced this week as one of six 2024 inductees into the city’s sports hall of fame.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Toronto: Visit the Buffalo Sabers on Saturday.
Washington: Visit the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.