This was a game that the Capitals led by two goals on two different occasions.
Matthews pulled the Leafs back within one about four minutes later with his second of the playoffs, but Oshie increased the deficit back to two when he beat Andersen 59 seconds after that.
The boys will have to clean it up if they are to earn a split in Toronto and take the series back to Washington at 2-2. The Leafs didn't score Wednesday night when they started the third period with the two man edge and that was their best opportunity to get back in a game they had no real business winning. Tom Wilson provided the secondary scoring that was nonexistent through the first three games.
Wilson first pulled back a Morgan Rielly shot from the goal line after it snuck through the pads of Holtby. The Capitals added two more goals in the first in a span of less than three minutes - both by Wilson. While Zaitsev might have been coming back from injury, the Maple Leafs will need him to be better in order to win in game four, especially with Roman Polak now out for the rest of the playoffs. Many expected this series to not go past five games, including Hall of Famer Mike Modano, who tweeted as much after the Capitals jumped to a 2-0 lead during the 1st period on Monday.
Kadri's hits on Caps blueliner Brooks Orpik and Komarov irritating Ovechkin proved effective in jump-starting the Leafs after falling behind 2-0. Braden Holtby hasn't been as sharp as he usually is.
Tom Wilson, who scored the overtime victor in the opener, had a pair in a dominant first period which saw the Caps outshoot the Leafs 15-6 and manage 26 even-strength shot attempts to just 14 for Toronto.
Williams' message prior to Game 4: seize the moment.
"They're getting some breaks", Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki is considered day to day and could play in Game 4. Wilson then joined centre Lars Eller on a two-man rush and finished it with his second goal of the playoffs at 13:41 to give the Caps a 3-1 lead. I've been on a couple of championship teams down 0-2, down 0-3, so you rally around it. "We still have to be prepared to come out on time". "I thought they won all the battles and all the races".
Many fans, myself included, chose to view this series as a can't-lose proposition. "We've got a younger group and if the forwards aren't doing their job, you're going to expose our D".
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"It's why we all play the game".
A big part of the Capitals playing their "way" is having Ovechkin on the ice, evidenced when he scored for the third consecutive game. It was apparent that it might just go that way early with Washington popping for a pair of goals in the first five minutes and four before the opening period was done.
They have to utilize their speed, their side to side game, their finesse: That's how the Leafs have to succeed.
It's odd to call a Game 4 for the Washington Capitals the most important game of the year already, but it sure feels like it.
On the off-day before the game, Holtby met with the Capitals' blue-liners and suggested playing the puck more to help Washington exit its own zone quicker.
There seemed to be a definitive strategy for beating the Maple Leafs in short order: dominate physically, as Washington did in a recent regular season victory, and leverage the best defense and goaltending combination in the National Hockey League, not to mention some pretty talented forwards.
Van Riemsdyk scored early in the second on a power play, but Toronto wasted almost two full minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage. "They took it to us". The goal was scored during a Leafs power play and came at 5:39.
The Maple Leafs had fast starts to games one and two.
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