It was not a good night in our nation's capital, as the Toronto Maple Leafs stumbled on Thursday, falling 4-0 to the Washington Capitals. After the loss, the Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews lamented how his team made it too easy for the Caps, according to Leafs' reporter David Alter.
“Auston Matthews on the Caps: ‘I thought we just made it really easy for them. The neutral zone was a highway for them to get through. Yeah, don't know, we just made it so easy for them,” Alter wrote on X.
There was no shortage of criticism, as the Capitals outplayed the Leafs in every facet of the game. The Capitals scored at 13:53 of the first period when Aliaksei Protas converted for his 11th goal of the season. Not even two minutes later, Jakob Chychrun found the back of the net for his 13th of the season. Chychrun added another goal in the third period before John Carlson made it 4-0, officially sealing the final score.
The Maple Leafs' offense struggled, failing to find the back of the net despite 22 shots. Additionally, they struggled to score even though they won 54% of the faceoffs. Toronto also went 0 for 5 on the power play. The defense was not much better, allowing the Capitals to find open shooting lanes and rush opportunities. Despite killing off all three penalties, the Leafs still could not capitalize on any momentum.
Matthews was also ineffective, registering two shots on goal. Moreover, he finished the game with a plus-minus of -3. The Leafs could not capitalize on his eight faceoff wins, either. With the loss, the Maple Leafs drop to 15-13-5, and they remain seventh in the Atlantic Division. Toronto also remained four points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
