With four points on the night, Joffrey Lupul helped prevent the Toronto Maple Leafs' losing streak from reaching four games, as the Blue and White blew out the Washington Capitals 7-1 at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday.
Lupul registered a goal and three assists to earn first star of the game honours. The Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta native now has 24 points this season, tying him with Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek for third in the league. Lupul's four points were two shy of his career best, as he scored three goals and three assists as a member of the Flyers on Dec. 11, 2007.
The Leafs jumped out to an early lead, scoring their first goal of the game 1:39 into the first period. In his second game back from an upper-body injury, Tim Connolly roofed the puck over Tomas Vokoun for just his second goal of the season. Connolly's goal also marked the 400th point of his eleven year career. Joffrey Lupul picked up the lone assist on the play.
Washington bounced back and scored the equalizer shortly after as 51 seconds later, Jason Chimera's shot from the top of the face-off circle was deflected past Jonas Gustavsson. The shot was deflected by Brooks Laich for his third goal of the season.
It took 17 games this year, but Matt Frattin finally got his first career goal at the 19:16 mark, firing a shot from the slot to reclaim the Leafs' lead. Picking up the assists on Frattin's goal were Joe Colborne for his first of the season in his first game since being recalled from the Toronto Marlies earlier in the day. The secondary assist went to Cody Franson for his second of the year.
The first period was a dominant one for the Blue and White as they outshot the Caps by a 16-8 margin, the most shots they've registered in the opening frame this season.
Toronto gave themselves some breathing space in the second period with four goals, three of which came on the power play. The first of which came at the 1:18 mark of the middle period as Tyler Bozak scored his second goal of the season to give the Leafs the 3-1 lead. The goal was set up by a great pass from Lupul for his second assist of the game, while the secondary helper was credited to Dion Phaneuf, giving him eleven this season.
Bozak's goal was scored on the first Leafs' shot of the period and the second shot proved to be just as successful with the league-leading 14th goal of the season from Phil Kessel. The assists went to Bozak for his second point of the night and Lupul who kept his incredible game going with his third point.
That marked the end of the night for Vokoun as he was pulled from the Washington net after allowing four goals on 18 shots. Taking over for him was Michal Neuvirth who appeared in his seventh game of the season
Already with three assists, Lupul got in on the goal scoring action later on in the period, scoring a power play goal at the 17:12 mark. The goal was Lupul's tenth of the season, as he tipped in a shot from Phaneuf. In addition to Phaneuf's assist, Kessel was credited with the secondary helper for his 13th of the year.
Late in the second period, the Leafs extended their lead to 6-1 as Cody Franson blasted a shot from the blue line past Neuvirth for his first goal as a Leaf. The goal was also Franson's first in 26 games, dating back to Feb. 15 of last season. Tim Connolly picked up the lone assist on the play.
The third period was kept scoreless until the 19:16 mark, when with Jay Rosehill in the penalty box for holding, David Steckel roofed the puck over Neuvirth for a shorthanded goal to give the Leafs the 7-1 lead. The shortie was Steckel's fourth goal of the season. It was also his first career goal against the Caps, a team he spent six seasons with.
Toronto's win is their first since a 3-2 road win over the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 10. The Leafs' victory is also their first on home ice in the month of November, with their last win at the ACC coming on Oct. 29th.
Saturdays might be the favourite day of the week for Phil Kessel as that's when he has scored the bulk of his goals this season. Of the 14 goals that the 24-year old sniper has scored this year, eight of them have come on Saturday.
Since James Reimer went down with concussion-like symptoms in a game against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 22, the Leafs have received some inconsistent goaltending from the duo of Ben Scrivens and Jonas Gustavsson. That changed on Saturday night however as Gustavsson was fantastic in the Leafs' net, stopping 40 shots to pick up his fifth win of the season and second star of the game honours.
The Leafs now embark on a four-game road trip, as they are back in action in less than 24 hours when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes.
Capitals vs. Leafs Stats Recap
Shots
WAS: 41
TOR: 29
Shot Leaders
WAS: Alex Ovechkin (8)
TOR: Joffrey Lupul (6)
Power Play
WAS: 0/5
TOR: 3/4
Blocked Shots
WAS: 10
TOR: 13
Blocked Shot Leaders
WAS: John Carlson (4)
TOR: Kulemin and Steckel tied (2)
Hits
WAS: 20
TOR: 28
Hits Leaders
WAS: John Erskine (3)
TOR: Franson and Schenn tied (5)
Face-Off Leaders -Min. 10 opportunities
WAS: Backstrom and Laich tied - 11/17 (65%)
TOR: Tim Connolly - 10/17 (59%)
Time on Ice
WAS: John Carlson (23:49)
TOR: Dion Phaneuf (23:53)
Three Stars
1) Joffrey Lupul - TOR (1G, 3A)
2) Jonas Gustavsson - TOR (40 Saves, .976 SV%)
3) Matt Frattin - TOR (1G, 0A)
Joffrey Lupul's Goal
For up-to-the-minute Leafs news and updates, be sure to follow Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett
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