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Toronto rallies late to beat Washington in a SO

Dec 7, 2010 - 5:34 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Mikhail Grabovski scored the first of three third-period goals for Toronto and scored in the second round of the shootout, as the Maple Leafs rallied past the Capitals, 5-4.

Clarke MacArthur scored twice in regulation for Toronto, which also won in a shootout against the Bruins on Saturday. Tim Brent also lit the lamp for the Maple Leafs, who also got 32 saves from Jonas Gustavsson.

Mathieu Perreault had two goals to pace Washington, which has lost three in a row. Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble also scored for the Capitals, who got 24 saves from Michal Neuvirth.

"We quit playing in our zone," Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I think they were mentally thinking they just wanted to play safe and we wanted to just get it out, but when you stop playing...you've got to continue to play and play hard when you get a chance to go on the forecheck. You can't just allow a team to come into our zone all night long. And then when they were in our zone, our positioning by both defense and forwards was really bad."

Following a scoreless first round of the shootout, Grabovski lit the lamp for the Maple Leafs with a backhander. Perreault then made a nice deke to get Gustavsson out of position, but he made a nice stick save to keep Toronto in front. Phil Kessel hit the post before Gustavsson stopped a wrister from Alexander Semin to snap the Maple Leafs' eight-game road skid.

The Maple Leafs entered the third period down 4-1. Grabovski got the surge started at the 4:16 mark. Tomas Kaberle slid a pass to the slot for Grabovski, whose one-timer found the back of the net.

It was a one-goal contest with 2:23 remaining, when Kaberle's one-timer from the point was deflected past Neuvirth by Brent.

Just 59 seconds later, MacArthur scored his second goal of the night to make it a 4-4 game. Grabovski controlled the puck at the left circle and made a nice pass to the side of the net. MacArthur was in perfect position for the score.

Gustavsson made three saves in the overtime period, while Neuvirth turned aside two shots.

"Washington got a little sloppy toward the end," Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said. "I think they thought the game was over."

The Capitals drew first blood at the 2:55 mark of the first period. Tom Poti's shot on net from the left point deflected off Perreault's stick and past Gustavsson.

MacArthur's power-play goal at the 11:47 mark made it a 1-1 contest. After being hit at the blue line, MacArthur got up and made his way to the slot. Nikolai Kulemin passed to MacArthur, who made his way to bottom of the left circle before firing a wrister past Neuvirth.

Washington took a 2-1 edge on Knuble's goal with 5:02 remaining in the first, when he followed up his own rebound and rippled the back of the net from between the circles.

Perreault's second goal of the night at 6:46 of the second frame made it a 3-1 game and Ovechkin's snap shot from the top of the left circle gave the Capitals a 4-1 margin with 6:10 remaining.

Game Notes

Ovechkin scored the winner in a shootout victory over the Maple Leafs when the clubs met back in D.C. on November 3. Toronto had lost three straight at the Verizon Center...The Maple Leafs have won consecutive games for the first time since November 16-18...Toronto won on the road for the first time since October 15 versus the Rangers...Poti had three assists...Capitals defenseman Jeff Schultz suffered a fractured thumb in the first period. He will miss the next 4-6 weeks.