TORONTO — Jason Chimera had a goal and an assist and the Washington Capitals won their fifth consecutive game, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2, on Saturday night.
Tom Wilson, Marcus Johansson and Justin Williams also scored and Braden Holtby made 32 saves as the Capitals (17-5-1) improved to 7-2 on the road.
It was the third consecutive loss for last-place Toronto (7-11-5). Peter Holland and Leo Komarov scored goals for the Maple Leafs, and Jonathan Bernier made 19 saves in his first start in nearly two weeks as starter James Reimer sat with an unspecified lower-body injury.
Chimera opened the scoring 3:43 into the game by floating a rolling puck past Bernier.
The Capitals played their second game in two nights and appeared sluggish early. They made a number of sloppy passes and Toronto took advantage to pull even.
Holland cut off a pass to give the Maple Leafs possession in the Washington end. Dion Phaneuf chipped the puck on goal from a bad angle and Holland one-timed the rebound through traffic at 6:13.
Toronto outshot Washington, 16-4, in the opening period.
The Capitals returned with more jump in the second period and pulled ahead at 4:06 on an ugly goal that deflated the crowd of 19,053. Defenseman Morgan Rielly overskated the puck and left it in the goal area for Wilson to bank in off Bernier’s pad for his first goal of the season.
With John Carlson off for interference, the Maple Leafs pulled even when Komarov tipped Phaneuf’s one-timer from the point at 6:26. It was his eighth goal of the campaign.
Washington answered with a power-play goal at 11:08 after Nazem Kadri’s high-sticking penalty. Alex Ovechkin took a slap shot from the faceoff circle that deflected off Roman Polak’s stick and Johansson’s left knee before crossing the line.
The Capitals’ power play struck again at 13:26. With Phaneuf off for interference, Chimera did the grunt work along the boards before getting a pass to Williams, and he snapped it into the top corner past a frozen Bernier for his seventh goal of the season.
The Maple Leafs were well-rested after a five-day break and pressed early in the third, but Holtby was up to the task.
With Ovechkin in the penalty box for cross-checking, Toronto hit the post twice on the power play but couldn’t cut into the lead.
The Maple Leafs outshot the Capitals, 33-23.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.