Leafs Storm Back To Stun Capitals 6-3

The Toronto Maple Leafs came back twice to tie the league-leading Washington Capitals before scoring three unanswered goals to win for their 7th win in their last 10 games. With the win, the Leafs are now 4 points back of the Montreal Canadiens for 4th in the tough Northeast Division with a game in hand on the Habs.

The Capitals opened the game with 2 quick goals and it looked like it may be another long night for the Leafs, as Alexander Ovechkin scored a power play goal 2 minutes into the game for his 21st of the season. Ovechkin assisted on Nicklas Backstrom's 9th goal at 5:15, as Backstrom took a pass from Ovechkin right through Leafs netminder Vesa Toskala's crease snapping the puck into the wide open net to put the Caps up 2-0.

Early in the 2nd, Toronto center Matt Stajan picked up his 10th on the rebound after Washington goalie Michal Neuvirth stopped Phil Kessel's quick shot after carrying the puck into the Capitals' zone. Stajan has been playing great since joining Kessel's line as both ended the night with a goal and 2 assists each. Kessel got his 11th on the power play at 5:54 with Ovechkin in the box after Washington received a penalty for too many men on the ice. Defenseman Tomas Kaberle got his team-high 29th assist on the play. Kaberle also leads the Leafs with 31 total points.

Backstrom put Washington back into the lead 3-2 converting another Ovechkin pass at 8:33 of the 2nd, but Toronto left winger Niklas Hagman snapped his 15th behind Neuvirth with 3:21 left in the 2nd period. Last season Hagman had 22 goals in 65 games with the Leafs and a career-high 27 the year before with the Dallas Stars. Kessel's assist on Hagman's goal gave the center his 3rd point of the period.

In the 3rd period, Toronto scored 3 times despite being outshot 13-11 by Washington, with Stajan scoring the eventual game winner 5:03 into the period. Jason Blake was called for a high-sticking infraction at 8:26, but Lee Stempniak got a shorthanded goal as defenseman Ian White blocked a pass at the Toronto blue line, and Stempniak recovered the puck as it flew high into the air and passed it back to White. White gave it back to Stempniak as the right winger broke in on Neuvirth and Stempniak backhanded it through the legs of the Washington goaltender for his 8th of the season. With 50 seconds left in regulation, Capitals' defenseman Mike Green was collared for interference and Alexei Ponikarovsky scored on the ensuing power play to finish off the Caps.

With the loss, Neuvirth slips to a 0-2-0 record in the two games he's appeared, while Toskala 3rd win in his last 4 games moves him to 4-5-2. Toskala played great, stopping Ovechkin, Backstrom and left winger Alexander Semin several times in the game. It could easily have been 4 or 5-0 in the first period if not for the play of the Toronto netminder. Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin combined for a total of 15 of Washington's 37 shots on the Leafs. Ovechkin ended with a goal and 2 assists, while Backstrom had 2 goals, and Semin was limited to a single assist.

Toronto continues their home stand, facing their provincial-rivals the Ottawa Senators on Monday, while the Capitals will head to Colorado for a Tuesday night game against the Avalanche.