TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews broke a third-period tie, Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves against his former Washington teammates and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Capitals 3-2 on Thursday night.
John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok also scored and Morgan Rielly added two assists to help the Maple Leafs rebound from an opening 4-3 loss at Montreal on Wednesday night.
Nic Dowd and Marcus Johansson scored for Washington, coming off a 5-2 home loss to Boston on Wednesday night. Charlie Lindgren stopped 36 shots.
Matthews scored at 6:55 of the third, his first goal of the season after leading the NHL last season with 60. Mark Giordano found a seam on a point shot that Matthews got a piece of with his stick before it handcuffed Lindgren and dribbled over the goal line.
Samonov and the Maple Leafs held on late, killing two penalties and weathering a stretch with Lindgren off for an extra attacker.
Toronto opened the scoring at 6:40 of the first period on a power play that finally clicked when Rielly found Tavares at the lip of the crease with a slick feed.
The Capitals responded at 9:57, with Dowd scoring from close range. Johansson gave Washington the lead on a shot off the rush with 6:08 left in the period/
Toronto tied it at 4:03 of the second. Alexander Kerfoot took a pass from Rielly at the offensive blue line and delayed before finding Jarnkrok with a terrific feed for his first with the Maple Leafs after signing in free agency.
Samsonov was drafted 22nd overall by Washington at the 2015 draft, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Washington, making him a free agent. The 25-year-old was 52-22-8 with a .902 save percentage and 2.81 goals-against average in 89 regular-season appearances with the Capitals.
UP NEXT
Capitals: Host Montreal on Saturday night to open a two-game homestand.
Maple Leafs: Host Ottawa on Saturday night to continue a four-game homestand.
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