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Jurcina helps Capitals topple Maple Leafs

Dec 7, 2008 - 4:20 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Defenseman Milan Jurcina snapped a tie 7:12 into the third period as the Washington Capitals recorded a 2-1 triumph Saturday over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Rookie defenseman Karl Alzner netted his first career goal and added an assist and Brent Johnson made 19 saves for Washington, which snapped a four-game road losing streak.

"Tonight was about secondary scoring. That's what you need to win," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I was very impressed with our rookie D core. If you look at how many guys that have very little NHL experience out there, they were very good.

"The positive thing about bringing guys up is that they really listen out there and take direction well. The young guys did a great job of standing up and neutralizing them in the neutral zone."

Count talented Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin as one who was impressed by the play of Jurcina and Alzner.

"The defensemen show us that we have a great presence in the locker room right now," Ovechkin said. "They stepped up and shut down the Leafs, which caused a bit of a boring game, but we're happy with the win."

Nik Antropov scored a power-play goal and Vesa Toskala turned aside 28 shots for Toronto, which dropped its third in a row and fell to 2-6-2 in its last 10 games.

Exactly one minute after Antropov evened the contest at 1-1, Jurcina regained the advantage for the Capitals.

The defenseman wristed a shot from just inside the blue line that beat a screened Toskala for his second goal of the season.

"When we got the second goal, I thought we had a chance with the crowd into it," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "But we just couldn't get the puck to the net and suffered when they got their second goal. Our D were slow moving the puck. We were just a beat slow on the metronome tonight."

Playing in his sixth NHL game, Alzner - the fifth overall pick in the 2007 draft - controlled the puck in the high slot and wristed it past Toskala at 1:41 of the second period for a 1-0 edge.

After notching his first point with an assist in a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday, Alzner admitted he was excited for Saturday's contest.

"Last game, I had a big one, and tonight I was just concentrating on just playing the game and helping the team," Alzner said. "My father came out to see the game, and the Leafs are his favorite team, so that was a nice gift for him."

Brooks Laich nearly doubled the advantage 7 1/2 minutes later.

After a shot by defenseman Sean Collins - who was making his NHL debut - hit the left goalpost, Toronto's Jason Blake attempt to clear the puck but instead watched it carom off Laich's right skate and into the net. Although originally ruled a goal, video replay officials reviewed the play and declared that there was a distinct kicking motion, disallowing the tally.

Antropov forged a tie at 6:12 of the third period, squeezing a shot past Johnson and inside the left goalpost for his 10th goal of the season.

"When I scored, it was a bit of a broken play and I just shot the puck at the net," Antropov said. "I thought the effort was there, and hopefully we can carry it to the next game."