Huge lead slips away as Washington falls to Toronto in shootout
This time the Capitals could not recover.
On their way to an easy victory on Monday night at Verizon Center, the Caps blew a multi-goal lead in the third period for the second time this season against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Nov. 3 Washington managed to pull out a 5-4 shootout win anyway. This time the Maple Leafs completed their comeback, scoring twice in the final 2:23 to tie the game and then winning in a shootout by that same 5-4 score.
Tim Brent cut Washington’s lead to 4-3 with a goal at 17:37 of the third period. Then — with goalie Jonas Gustavsson (32 saves) off the ice for an extra attacker — a defensive breakdown led to a goal by Toronto forward Clarke MacArthur. That was his second of the night and tied the game with 1:24 remaining.
| Caps notes |
| » Defenseman Tyler Sloan was placed on injured reserve — retroactive to Sunday — with an undisclosed injury. He can’t return until next Sunday’s game against the New York Rangers. |
| » Defenseman Tom Poti did play — and recorded a three-assist game. It was the first time he’s done that in the regular season since April 5, 2007. That also came against Toronto while Poti played for the New York Islanders. |
| » Poti did have a four-point game for Washington — one goal, three assists — in the playoffs on April 26, 2009 against the New York Rangers. |
Gustavsson stopped all three of the Caps’ attempts in the shootout, allowing Mikhail Grabovski’s spin-o-rama goal on Michal Neuvirth to stand as the winner. That was a fitting end since Grabovski started the rally with his goal at 4:16 of the third.
“We can’t have that happen,” Caps defenseman Tom Poti said. “It’s unacceptable. We need to be better in the third.”
The Caps are 18-8-3 and did earn a point. But that proved little consolation. And the team received more bad news when defenseman Jeff Schultz suffered a fractured thumb after taking a shot off his hand during a penalty kill late in the second period. He did not return and will miss 4-to-6 weeks.
“We quit playing in our zone,” Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We just wanted to play safe … And when [Toronto was] in our zone our positioning, by both defensemen and forwards, was really bad.”
The loss overshadowed the performance of center Mathieu Perreault, who scored two goals in his first game after a promotion from AHL Hershey. Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble also scored for Washington.
Perreault started as the second-line center. It is the fifth separate stint for the 22-year-old with the Caps in 13 months. Washington had a chance to put the game away in the third period, but Perreault’s fine pass to Alex Semin resulted in a shot off the post.
“Losing a game like this is pretty bad for us,” Ovechkin said. “It’s a lesson and it’s good we have another game soon.”
