It was oh so close for the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night.
Mitchell Marner scored early in the opening period and Jake Gardiner added a second goal in the frame to stake the Leafs to a 2-0 lead over Washington in Game 1 of their
opening round series.
But Washington responded with two goals by Justin Williams to tie it.
“Everything’s about momentum,” Williams said. “They certainly had it to start, and we kind of calmed down, settled the nerves and we did what we wanted to do: Come back from (down) two goals, and now you keep the pressure on.”
With just over five minutes gone in overtime, Tom Wilson scored to give Washington the 3-2 win and a 1-0 series lead.
Braden Holtby made 35 saves to rescue Washington.
[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Capitals highlights | RELATED: Complete Toronto vs. Washington series coverage]
Frederik Andersen took the loss on 41 saves.
“A confidence-builder, for sure,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “I liked our game. I didn’t like that we wouldn’t shoot the puck. We had so many opportunities to shoot and we wouldn’t, we wanted to pass. I thought Wilson did a good job of doing that, you just throw it on net. That’s playoff hockey. Things bounce to somebody and it goes in.”

You must be logged in to post a comment.