*Photo from the Rocky Mountain Outlook*
It was a big game for the Toronto boys at home. Morgan Rielly scored, John Tavares had two assists, and the Toronto Maple Leafs rolled past the Washington Capitals with a 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in Toronto.
The win goes down as the Maple Leafs' 6th in 10 games, with a 6-3-1 record. Tavares and Michael Bunting were the only multi point scorers for the Maple Leafs, with Tavares having a two assist game and Bunting recording a goal and an assist. Rielly also broke through with his first goal of the year.
Asked about Rielly finally scoring, Tavares said that "I don't know if I've ever played with a better professional than Morgan. The way he carries himself, you'd never know. I think he is a world-class player, person and leader, and when the puck hasn't been going in, it's never easy especially between the ears. You don't see him hanging his head or sinking his shoulders."
Nicklas Backstrom got the scoring started, giving the Capitals a 1-0 lead with the only goal of the first period, coming on the power play. Bunting scored just 1:29 into the second period on the power play to tie it up 1-1. Rielly scored to give the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead, his first goal of the season with Bunting and Tavares assisting.
Later in the second period, William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs, extending the lead to 3-1 on his 28th goal of the season. At the 14:20 mark of the second, the lead became 4-1 thanks to Pierre Engvall, assisted by David Kampf and TJ Brodie. Zach Aston-Reese scored the only goal of the 3rd period to seal the 5-1 win.
Rielly said of the win that "It was good, we wanted to respond. We weren't very proud of ourselves when we were leaving here after that game against Ottawa. It was a good day of practice yesterday, a good day with our Easter Seals skate, and then to come out and perform well, that was good."
Getting his 6th straight start between the pipes for the Maple Leafs was Ilya Samsonov, who put together a strong game in net. Samsonov stopped 23 of the 24 shots he was tested with, good for a .958 save percentage. Samsonov's record improved to 17-5-2 on the season.
Starting in net for the Capitals was Darcy Kuemper, who took the loss to fall to 15-14-4 in 34 starts this season. Kuemper saved 16 of 20 shots before he was pulled from the game, with Charlie Lindgren entering in relief. Lindgren stopped 6 of 7 shots he faced.
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said of the game that "I thought the first period was good, the second period, we didn't do the right things defensively, and it burned us. It was out of position, wrong assignment, and it caught us. I don't think it was an overwhelming amount of pressure, but at the end of the day, it's about details, and I think the details in the second period were not good enough."
Washington resumes play on the road on Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, with Kuemper projected to start. The Maple Leafs take on the Boston Bruins on Wednesday at home, with Samsonov the expected starter.
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