Toronto Maple Leafs hand Washington Capitals fourth straight loss 7-1 -NHL Match Update
Toronto managed to bounce back and snap their three-game losing streak, while Washington lost their fourth straight contest as the Maple Leafs dominated the Capitals, 7-1, Saturday night, November 19, 2011, at the sold-out Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario,
Canada.
The first period brought a mixture of good and bad for both teams as the Maple Leafs kicked off the scoring with Tim Connolly scoring his second of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season 1:39 into the opening 20 minutes.
Brooks Laich countered right back and brought the Capitals at par with the Maple leafs nearly a minute later while Matt Frattin scoring his inaugural goal of the season with less than a minute to play, taking the lead for the home team.
"It was just one of those nights", Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul said after a four point night. "We knew we were on the verge of one of those breakout nights and everyone contributed tonight, the power play was good, the penalty kill was good,
Monster (Jonas Gustavsson) was awesome, so (it was) just a good night for us."
Toronto came out surprisingly strong in the second period with Tyler Bozak kicking off the scoring in the opening two minutes during an early power play opportunity, followed by Phil Kessel for his 14th of the season and Joffrey Lupul nearly 12
minutes later and Cody Franson, both on power play opportunities.
"It feels like the end of the world but it's not the end of the world," Washington Capitals head coach, Bruce Boudreau said.
David Steckel potted another for Washington with less than a minute remaining in the third and final period of regulation while the Toronto Maple Leafs had crippled the Washington offence shorthanded with Jay Rosehill on the benches for holding.
Toronto now sits at the fifth position in the Eastern Conference with 24 points while the Washington Capitals are on the edge of falling down as they stand tied with three other teams at the eighth position with 21 points.
The Maple Leafs hope to use this momentum in the next four road games they have, starting off with the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, while the Washington Capitals return home to host the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday.
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