NHL

Toronto Maple Leafs at Washington Capitals

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Final
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John Tavares scores in OT as the Maple Leafs rally to beat the Capitals 4-3

John Tavares' OT winner completes Leafs comeback over Caps

William Nylander sparked the comeback with his goal with 4:09 left and set up Marner's 6-on-4 power play goal with 47.8 seconds left in regulation with goaltender Joseph Woll pulled for an extra attacker and Washington's Nic Dowd in the penalty box. Nylander's heroics came 24 hours after his turnover on the first shift put the Leafs on track to a dud of a shutout loss at home against Ottawa.

The Capitals led 3-1 on goals by Taylor Raddysh, Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas before a turnover by Tom Wilson ended with Nylander beating Logan Thompson. Dowd's penalty became one mistake too many, and Washington lost for just the fifth time in 15 games this season.

Woll stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced to help Toronto bounce back. Thompson had 31 saves and lost for the first time since Washington acquired him from Vegas last summer.

Takeaways Maple Leafs: The response coach Craig Berube and veteran leaders expected took a while to materialize, but the team's best players got it done when it mattered.

Capitals: After a charmed start to the season, the Capitals failed to add on and paid the price for a lackluster third period.

Key moment The Leafs held the puck for a vast majority of the 3-on-3 OT before Tavares scored with 46.2 seconds left.

Key stat Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson skated in his 1,000th regular-season NHL game.

Up next The Capitals open a three-game road trip Friday night at Colorado, while the Leafs host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

Regular Season Series

TOR leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 11:12 Taylor Raddysh Goal (3) Backhand, assists: Connor McMichael (7), Pierre-Luc Dubois (8)
Goal 1st Period 12:11 Bobby McMann Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: John Tavares (7), Pontus Holmberg (2)
Goal 1st Period 18:33 Dylan Strome Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: Aliaksei Protas (9), Matt Roy (2)
Goal 2nd Period 17:48 Aliaksei Protas Goal (6) Snap Shot, assists: Rasmus Sandin (6), Alex Ovechkin (9)
Goal 3rd Period 15:51 William Nylander Goal (12) Snap Shot, assists: Matthew Knies (4)
Goal 3rd Period 19:12 Mitch Marner Goal (5) Slap Shot, assists: Morgan Rielly (9), William Nylander (8)
Goal 4th Period 4:13 John Tavares Goal (9) Snap Shot, assists: Mitch Marner (17)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tor.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTOR https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH
12 Blocked Shots 15
13 Hits 21
5 Takeaways 3
34 Shots 27
1 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 1
50.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
25 Faceoffs Won 29
46.3 Faceoff Win Percent 53.7
10 Giveaways 17
1 Total Penalties 2
2 Penalty Minutes 4

Game Information

Capital One Arena

Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 18,573 | Capacity:

2024-25 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Florida 11 4 23 1
Toronto 10 6 22 2
Boston 8 7 18 2
Ottawa 8 7 16 0
Tampa Bay 7 6 15 1
Detroit 7 7 15 1
Buffalo 7 8 15 1
Montreal 5 9 12 2

2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
New Jersey 11 6 24 2
Carolina 11 4 22 0
Washington 10 4 21 1
NY Rangers 9 4 19 1
NY Islanders 6 6 16 4
Pittsburgh 6 9 15 3
Philadelphia 6 8 14 2
Columbus 5 8 12 2
Full Standings