Washington picked up its second win in as many nights Saturday night, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 at Air Canada Centre. .
It didn’t take long for the Capitals to get rolling in the first period Saturday. Marcus Johansson began the scoring just 32 seconds into the game, his 12th goal of the season from Alex Ovechkin and Keith Aucoin to make the score 1-0. The assist for Aucoin was his first point of the season for Washington. A short time later at the 3:46 mark, Alexander Semin picked up a rebound off James Reimer’s goal pads and and scored his 17th goal of the season. The unassisted goal gave the Caps a 2-0 lead, a two-goal advantage Dale Hunter’s team took to first intermission. Washington put 11 pucks on Reimer in the first, while Michal Neuvirth stopped all nine he faced. Toronto would add two goals in the third period from Colby Armstrong and Tim Connolly, but could draw no closer. The Capitals are one point back of both Winnipeg and Florida in the Southeast Division with 20 games to go.
The second period was more of the same for the Capitals Saturday, Jeff Halpern notched his fourth goal of the season at the 11:31 mark to make the score 3-0 before Keith Aucoin scored his first goal of the season for Washington on a rebound of a Marcus Johansson shot at 15:03. Aucoin, who was promoted on Friday to play on a line with Ovechkin and Johansson, picked up his first two points of the season in less than two periods Saturday. Washington held a commanding 4-0 lead after two, firing 29 shots on net and allowing just 19. The Capitals win a 4-2 final at Air Canada Centre for win number 31 of the season
The Capitals will host the New York Islanders Tuesday Night at Verizon Center, with a 7:00 p.m. faceoff. The game begins a season-long five-game homestand for Washington, as New Jersey, Philadelphia, Carolina and Tampa Bay will also visit between Tuesday night and March 8. John Erskine, Roman Hamrlik and Mike Knuble were healthy scratches for Dale Hunter’s team Saturday. The start for Neuvirth was his second in as many nights, after earning a 4-1 win Friday over Montreal in D.C. Troy Brouwer played in his 300th NHL game Saturday night. Former Washington head coach Ron Wilson coached his 1,399th NHL game Saturday against the Capitals. Wilson will tie Pat Quinn for fourth all-time in NHL history for games coached in a career Tuesday when Toronto plays the Florida Panthers.
It’s so great to hear you call Keith Aucoin’s goal up in Washington. Reminds me of when you were in Hershey.