Big win at home over NHL-best Caps

For the first time since the first weeks of the season, Toronto is no longer tied for second last in the Eastern Conference. A huge win on Saturday for the Leafs tied them with the slumping Philadelphia Flyers with 29 points. Toronto fought through an early 2-0 Caps lead in the first, and scored 3 goals in both the second and the third period to give the Leafs their third straight win at home – the first time such a streak has been completed at the ACC since January of 2008.

Phil Kessel ended a four game scoring drought, scoring his 11th goal of the year on the powerplay early in the second to tie the game at 2-2 for Toronto. Matt Stajan had two goals and an assist, giving him 18 points in 18 games with Kessel as his linemate. Kessel assisted on Stajan’s first goal and Niklas Hagman’s game-tying goal near the end of the 2nd period. In the 3rd, it was all Leafs, as Alexei Ponikarovsky had a goal and an assist in the frame, recording his first point on Stajan’s second goal of the night and scoring the last goal of the game in the final minute, double-clutching Michal Neuvirth before burying the puck to put the game well out of reach.

Vesa Toskala made 34 saves in another good performance for the beleaguered Finn. Alex Ovechkin had 1 goal and assisted on both of Nicklas Backstrom’s goals, but Neuvirth gave up six goals on 36 shots in just his second start of the season. The Leafs took full advantage of Neuvirth’s inexperience,and are now 5-2-0 to start the month of December. A large improvement for Toronto, who went 1-7-4 in October and 5-5-3 in November. The Leafs have lost only 3 of their last 12 games in regulation, going 8-3-1 since their shootout win over the Capitals three weeks ago.

Toronto hosts Ottawa on Monday night, while Washington will continue a road trip in Colorado.