Caps 3, Maple Leafs 2 (Shootout)
A team that has struggled to produce a long Stanley Cup playoff run in each of the last three seasons will get another chance as a high seed after the Caps took a 3-2 shootout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
Alex Ovechkin and John Erskine each scored a goal in regulation and veteran winger Mike Knuble notched the lone goal in the shootout period. The Caps (47-22-11, 105 points) had already clinched the Southeast Division because Tampa Bay (44-25-11, 99 points) lost at Buffalo (41-29-10, 92 points) minutes before the game against the Maple Leafs concluded. But Knuble’s shootout goal gave Washington an extra standings point.
That was important thanks to Philadelphia’s loss at Ottawa on Tuesday. So the Caps are now all alone into first place in the Eastern Conference and control their own destiny. Win the final two regular-season games – both against the Florida Panthers – and they will be the conference’s top seed for the second year in a row.
Credit Erskine for banking a shot off a Toronto player and past goalie James Reimer. It was his fourth goal of the season and 11th point. Both are career bests. Reimer was the reason the Maple Leafs were even in it. He finished with 39 saves on 41 Washington shots. Toronto managed just 21 shots on goal against Michal Neuvirth (19 saves).
Ovechkin registered his 300th career goal when he scored against Toronto on the power play in the first period. At 25 years, 200 days, Ovechkin is the sixth-youngest player in NHL history to reach 300 goals and the seventh-fastest to do so (473 career games). Only Wayne Gretzky , Mario Lemieux, Dale Hawerchuk, Mike Bossy and Steve Yzerman got to 300 at a younger age.
The Caps immediately returned home after the game to face Florida tonight at Verizon Center in the second of a back-to-back. We’ll see if they get defenseman Mike Green (concussion) back. Hints dropped by general manager George McPhee on Toronto radio Tuesday that Green’s return is close. That would be a huge boost to an injury-ravaged blueline. That would leave Tom Poti (groin) and Dennis Wideman (hematoma) as the only defenseman out of the lineup.
Washington ends the regular season with a game at the Panthers on Saturday night. Just one point in either of its last two games – or any loss by No. 3 seed Boston – clinches at least the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed for Washington.
But Philadelphia wins the tiebreaker and will still earn the No. 1 seed if the two teams finish with the same amount of points. The Flyers conclude with a game at Buffalo on Friday and at home against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
The Caps are tied with the San Jose Sharks for longest current streak of division titles. After play on Tuesday they were on pace to meet the No. 8 seed New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. But the bottom of the conference is in chaos. Montreal and Buffalo both won on Tuesday so all three teams are within two points of each other. No. 9 Carolina is still alive – barely. The Hurricanes haves 87 points and are four behind the Rangers. They need to beat Detroit at home tomorrow to stay alive.
New York got some bad injury news on Tuesday when second-leading scorer Ryan Callahan was declared out indefinitely with a broken right leg. He blocked a Zdeno Chara shot during Monday’s win over the Bruins.
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