Capitals shut out Maple Leafs, gain in Eastern playoff race

TORONTO -- The Washington Capitals gained ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race with a 4-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

The win moved the Capitals to within three points of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East with three games remaining. The Senators hold one game in hand. 

The Capitals also pulled to within three points of the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers have a game in hand.

“We knew last game was unacceptable from start to finish (an 8-1 loss to the New York Ranges on Sunday) and we know how good we have to be these next three games to give ourselves a chance. It was a good start tonight,” Capitals forward Ryan Leonard said.

Logan Thompson, who started for the 11th time in the past 12 games, made 21 saves for his third shutout of the season and ninth in the NHL for the Capitals (40-30-9), who are 5-2-0 in their past seven. Dylan Strome and Martin Fehervary each had a goal and an assist.

“It was a sloppy game overall, just didn’t have a lot of flow to it,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “You could feel it early on, it was both teams trading odd man rushes, pucks were bobbling but we did enough to build a lead and I thought we got better from a checking defensive standpoint as the game went along, especially in the third period. Logan, when we needed him, was real solid. Wasn’t a ton of action but we needed a few big saves and he made those.”

Joseph Woll made 14 saves for the Maple Leafs (32-32-14), who have been eliminated from playoff contention. 

Woll entered the game after Anthony Stolarz left 2:34 into the first period when he appeared to sustain a left leg injury while kicking out his pad to make a save. Stolarz, who made two saves, remained on the ice for several minutes before being assisted off by teammates Bo Groulx and Simon Benoit while not putting weight on the leg. 

Coach Craig Berube said he will need to get imaging done before the extent of the injury can be determined.

“It didn’t look great,” Woll said. “Honestly the first thing is worried for him and then get ready to go. It was kind of scary seeing him go down like that. He’s a pretty tough dude so if he goes down, it’s tough to see. I checked in on him, seems like he’s doing all right. I don’t know the extent of the injury; it’s not for me to say.”

The Capitals went up 1-0 at 13:22 of the first period when Strome one-timed a pass from Anthony Beauvillier on a 2-on-1. 

Leonard made it 2-0 40 seconds into the second period. Tom Wilson intercepted a pass from Easton Cowan just inside the defensive zone and swung a backhand pass up the middle to spring Leonard, who had just come out of the penalty box, on a breakaway.

“I’ve never scored a goal like that in my life coming out of the box,” Leonard said. “You always kind of dream of that but credit to our penalty kill, they were outstanding. … Just a great play from Tom.”

Thompson, who also shut out Toronto on Dec. 18, kept it 2-0 at 1:37 when he made a glove save on Steven Lorentz, who shot from just above the top of the goal crease.

“He’s so solid for us every night,” Wilson said. “The story writes itself, he gives us a chance to win every night and he’s the backbone of this team. He played great again and we’re going to need it the next three games.”

Fehervary pushed it to 3-0 at 2:53 when his shot from the top of the left face-off circle deflected off Jake McCabe’s skate in the slot and trickled in after going off Woll’s pad. The goal was Fehervary’s 100th NHL point in his 377th game.

Cole Hutson shot into an empty net at 16:10 for the 4-0 final. Ilya Protas assisted on the goal for his first point in his NHL debut. He finished plus-1 in 15:37.

“The game didn’t have a lot of intensity in it,” Berube said. “We did some good things, had some opportunities but we didn’t capitalize on any of them. They got a few odd-man rushes where we turned the puck over and capitalized on a couple goals. That’s really the difference in the game.”

NOTES: Maple Leafs forward Dakota Joshua left the game with an upper-body injury at 13:36 of the second period after falling awkwardly into the boards due to a collision with Rasmus Sandin. Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo did not return for the third period because of a lower-body injury. Each will not play on Thursday against the New York Islanders. … Forward Luke Haymes will be recalled from Toronto of the American Hockey League and make his NHL debut on Thursday. Defenseman William Villeneuve will also be recalled from Toronto of the AHL. Goalie Artur Akhtyamov will be recalled as well and start against the Islanders.