Washington Capitals even the series by beating Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Washington Capitals even the series by beating Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4. Here is the summary for the game played on Wednesday, April 19, 2017
 

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

Zach Hyman put the Maple Leafs on the board with a goal at the 5:16 mark of the first period. Hyman’s goal is his first career goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

With Zach Hyman’s goal, the Maple Leafs join the 2007-08 New York Rangers as the only teams over the last 25 years of the Stanley Cup playoffs to have five rookie goal-scorers (Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Zach Hyman), per Elias Sports Bureau.

James van Riemsdyk scored Toronto’s second goal of the game at 5:39 of the second period on the power play, giving him three points (2 goals, 1 assist) in the series to this point.

Auston Matthews scored the Maple Leafs’ third goal of the night at 12:00 of the third period. Matthews has points (2 goals, 1 assist) in two consecutive games.

Tyler Bozak scored Toronto’s fourth goal of the game at 19:33 of the third period. Bozak has goals (2) in two consecutive games.

Jake Gardiner registered the primary assist on Hyman’s first period goal. Gardiner has registered three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in four games this series.

William Nylander picked up the secondary assist on Hyman’s goal. Nylander has points (1 goal, 1 assist) in two consecutive games.

Morgan Rielly had the primary assist on van Riemsdyk’s second period goal. Rielly has points (1 goal, 3 assists) in three consecutive games.

Mitch Marner also earned an assist on van Riemsdyk’s second period goal and had the primary assist on Bozak’s third period goal. Marner has four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in his first four career Stanley Cup playoff games.

Matt Hunwick picked up the primary assist on Matthews’ third period goal. Hunwick has seven assists in 24 career playoff games.

Connor Brown had the secondary assist on Matthews’ third period goal. Brown’s assist is his first career playoff point.

William Nylander registered an assist on Bozak’s third period goal. Nylander has points (1 goal, 1 assist) in two consecutive games.

Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots in the loss.

SHOTS FIRED

The Maple Leafs had a 33-27 edge in shots in all situations. Washington had a 24-22 edge in shots at 5-on-5.

Toronto had a 67-56 lead in shot attempts in all situations. Washington had a 52-45 lead in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk each registered four shots on goal.

Jake Gardiner registered a team-high nine shot attempts.

OF NOTE…

At 8:11 of the third period in tonight’s game, Washington requested a Coach’s Challenge to review the “Interference on the Goalkeeper” decision that resulted in a “no goal” call. After review, the Referee determined that Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom interfered with Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen. Therefore, the original call stands – no goal Washington Capitals.

The Maple Leafs are 20-15 all-time in best-of-seven playoff series when tied 2-2 through four games.

The Maple Leafs were 0-for-1 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 on the power play in tonight’s game.

Toronto had a 49-31 edge in hits.

Brian Boyle won 88 percent (7 won, 1 lost) of his faceoffs and all three of his defensive zone faceoffs.

Matt Hunwick and Morgan Rielly were each on the ice for a team-high 22 Maple Leafs shot attempts at 5-on-5 in tonight’s game. Hunwick had a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 53.7 percent (22 for, 19 against), while Rielly had a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 56.4 percent (22 for, 17 against).

Tonight’s attendance was 19,838.

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

UPCOMING GAMES:

Friday, April 21 at Washington Capitals, 7:00 p.m. (Hockey Night in Canada, TSN 1050)

Sunday, April 23 vs. Washington Capitals, TBD

Tuesday, April 25 at Washington Capitals, TBD*

*If Necessary

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On if tonight’s mistakes are correctable before Game Five:

Yeah, for sure. We weren’t very good; we weren’t ready to play. They were more competitive than us at the start. In the faceoff circle, we never had the puck at the start, they dominated us there totally. We weren’t very good. In some ways, it was nice that we were able to score goals and get ourselves back into the game, but we didn’t play near as good as we had to or needed to. We talked a lot about how the game was going to be today but we didn’t look like any of that sunk in. We weren’t prepared.

On if the team failed to execute or if Washington changed their approach tactically:

We weren’t good enough, we didn’t compete hard enough. I thought they won all the battles and all the races. I thought they were quicker today, I thought we looked slow and I thought they looked fast. To me, that’s just real simple. I thought they executed better than us and they were on top of us instead of us executing better than them and getting on top of them. I thought they got off to a good start. Obviously, we lost the faceoff and they scored – that was Oshie. Then we give up a power play, we have four clears where we could have got it out and didn’t get it out, they shoot it in the net and we’re down 2-0. I think you can come back once in a while from behind like we did the other night, but I don’t think you can spot the other team two goals all the time, especially now that they’re energized and winning all the battles. We weren’t very good.

On if Marner is getting a lesson in how difficult the playoffs are:

I think everybody is getting a lesson on our team. We’ve got a lot of veteran guys that just played their eighth playoff game. We’re all getting lessons. Each and every year – this is a crucial game today, you could make it a best-of-three or you could be in the driver’s seat. What you learn over time by being in these is you never want to let the other team get any momentum. We’ve done that so now we’ve got to dig in and find a way. I think everyone is finding out there’s not a lot of space and not a lot of room and to be a good player in the League, you’ve got to be ultra-competitive and you’ve got to do it every day.

On players learning that not every potential penalty is called by the officials in the playoffs:

The way I look at this is when you compete at a real high level, lots of things go your way. When you don’t, they don’t go your way. Hockey is a fair game. Ninety-nine percent of the time the team that competes the hardest wins. I thought today’s game was fair.

On if tonight feels like a lost opportunity:

For sure, it is a lost opportunity. It doesn’t feel like it, it is. I think game one in their building you could say that, but I didn’t feel like that, I just felt that was a confidence builder for our team. You’re playing a team, they’re the best team in hockey and here you are. I thought today was the first time that maybe we weren’t scared enough of them and it looked like it because our competition level wasn’t good enough.

FREDERIK ANDERSEN (22 SAVES)

On tonight’s game:

We didn’t come to compete from the beginning, that’s obvious. I think the positive way to look at it is we came really close back to tie it up, but it’s tough to come back from that many goals when you’re playing the first period.

On his performance:

Not the best. I wish I could have helped the team out a little bit more, coming up bigger when they had their chances. They seemed to execute better than we did.

On if he thought there was goaltender interference on Washington’s first goal:

I don’t know. I’ll just look at it after. They didn’t call anything so you can’t focus on that now.

On Washington’s fifth goal:

We obviously came with a lot of momentum after our goal. It was a tough letdown, one of those turns you want to come up big and I failed to do that today. We didn’t play anywhere close to what we’re capable of, we know that. We know what to do, we know how to play.

AUSTON MATTHEWS (1 GOAL)

On tonight’s game:

I think in the first 10-15 minutes they came out pretty hard. We’ve got to be more prepared. We knew for them it was a do-or-die game. We’ve got to be prepared for that and come out on time because I think when we start playing like we did down the stretch we make it a lot harder for them. We were able to control the play more and win more 50/50 battles and turn the momentum back on our side.

On Washington’s fifth goal:

Just one of those plays. We’ve got to make sure we’re taking care of the puck, especially on our blueline when those top guys are out there. You turn the puck over and they’re coming back down on our net. It can be really dangerous.

On how to combat Washington coming out hard in Game Five:

You just start on time; play the way we did down the stretch. They’re a team that likes to play physical down low and we’ve got to be able to be tight in the D-zone so we can break out the puck a little bit more.

On the 5-on-3 power play to begin the third period:

I thought we had some pretty good opportunities there. Holtby came up pretty big on some saves and you’ve got to credit them with some pretty good structure there. We had a 5-on-3, fresh ice, down by two goals, that’s a time you definitely need to score. We’ll try to clean that up.

MORGAN RIELLY (1 ASSIST)

On if he was happy with the team’s effort over the course of the game:

Not really. I thought we came out and didn’t have a very good start. They obviously came out knowing the importance of the game and had a good start, got a couple of quick ones and put us on our heels a little bit. Moving forward, I think it’s important that we focus on our starts and make sure that’s a strong area of our game.

On leaving tonight without earning a victory:

A missed opportunity. That being said, it’s a best-of-three now. We’re going into Washington, we’ve won in that building so, you know, it sucks to lose these ones but it’s important to realize that we have a big game in two days that we have to get ready for. It means a lot in terms of the outcome of this series.

On what he saw on a play where he got up bloodied:

Not much. Obviously, it was a big play for them, they ended up scoring. That’s the way it goes.

On if he was complaining to the official about a lack of penalty on the play:

No, I was just asking him what he saw.

On if he was cut by a skate in the collision:

Yeah.

On if the team is happy to be playing close games with Washington:

We don’t think we’re hanging with them, we want to be in the driver’s seat. It’s the playoffs, I don’t think that they should be putting us away. I think we feel like we can come out and control the game. It’s not about hanging on and trying to squeak one out, it’s about controlling the play and being in the driver’s seat and going out there and winning a game.