Capitals home woes continue in loss to Maple Leafs

The Washington Capitals continued to struggle at home but still almost came back and made things interesting against a high flying Toronto Maple Leafs team in a 5-3 loss.

Unsurprisingly it was the Maple Leafs that struck first on a goal from Michael Bunting at 2:35 in the first period. At 16:23 the Caps tied it up with a deflection goal from Conor Sheary for his 12th of the season. It was assisted by Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson.

The Maple Leafs answered with a goal from William Nylander at 18:49 and a buzzer beater from Justin Holl with two seconds left. 3-1 was the score after one with the Caps leading in shots 12-10.

In the second the Caps inched closer with another rare power play goal. It came on a rebound in front of the net from Tom Wilson on an Alex Ovechkin shot with Carlson providing the secondary assist. It came at 10:11. 3-2 was the score after two. The Caps outshot the Maple Leafs 11-9 after two.

In the third period the Caps tied it on a shorthanded goal from Wilson for his 17th of the season. The equalizer came at 1:44 and it was a clear drive to the net. It was assisted by Martin Fehervary and Carlson.

The Maple Leafs took the lead with a goal from Rasmus Sandin at 16:37 and then put it away with an empty netter from Pierre Engvall at 18:59. It was the Caps sixth straight loss at home and they have yet to win a regulation game on home ice in 2022. The Caps outshot the Maple Leafs 10-9 in the third period and 33-28 overall.

Ilya Samsonov allowed three goals on 10 shots before getting pulled for Vitek Vanecek, who started with the Hershey Bears the night before. Vanecek stopped 16 of 17 the rest of the way.

Tom Wilson told the media after the game: 

"“We got to control the big moments and find ways to win those games. I think we’ve found ourselves in close games quite a bit here the last month and they’ve just been going the other way and that is just unacceptable.”"

The Caps will look to snap this three game losing streak at home on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.