Caps rake Maple Leafs, 5-2 | Pro Hockey News

In Washington, DC< Erik Gustafsson hit for a hat trick on Saturday night and the Capitals brushed aside the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2.“Scoring the first goal as a [Capital] too and get a ‘hatty’ on [top of] that is pretty unbelievable,” Gustafsson said. “It was a great feeling.”

Charlie Lindgren made 34 saves in the Washington win.

“Tonight, we answered the bell. That seems to be what this team’s been doing all year long, especially as of late,” Lindgren said. “We’re just answering the bell. All four lines, our [defensemen] are playing excellent. It’s a really good win against a really good hockey team.”

The Caps improved to 16-13-4.

“A (few) of the things we talk about are defense and puck decisions and attacking the net,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. “Every guy has to do their job and they have to play hard, and we’ve gotten that on most nights. Guys have played hard. They’ve done the right things.”

Gustafsson and Toronto’s William Nylander traded goals in the first period for a 1+-1 tie.

Trevor van Riemsdyk put the Caps up 2-1 headed to the middle frame.

“I was just trying to get it to the far pad. I didn’t really have much,” Van Riemsdyk said. “It was obviously really lucky to kind of hit his stick and bounce up into the air and get by ‘Sammy’ there. So, fortunate bounce, but we’ll take it.”

In the second period, Gustafsson scored his scored for a 3-1 advantage.

Auston Matthews hit for a marker in the seventh minute of the frame to give the Leafs some hope at a 3-2 deficit.

It was short-lived as the Caps’ Garnet Hathaway hit for a goal with 10 seconds gone in the third for a 4-2 lead.

Gustafsson finished his hat trick at 3:47 for the the 5-2 final.

The Maple Leafs dropped to 19-7-6.

“I thought we had an excellent second period and didn’t get rewarded for it and didn’t finish our chances, and they score 10 seconds into the third,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It’s a tough climb from there.”

Ilya Samsonov made 23 saves in the loss.s