Third-period letdown dooms Maple Leafs in D.C. defeat

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Published Nov 28, 2025  •  Last updated 9 hours ago  •  4 minute read

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Leafs netminder Joseph Woll and defenceman Morgan Rielly can’t keep Connor McMichael from scoring the Capitals’ first goal last night in Washington. Photo by Scott Taetsch /Getty Images)Article content

Having found it so hard to get leads during this soulless season, the Maple Leafs can’t be giving that margin away in the third period.

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What would’ve been an uplifting win Friday evening in Washington with netminder Joseph Woll outstanding again and team points leader William Nylander missing with an illness, flipped to a 4-2 empty-net goal defeat when the Capitals broke free of the visitors’ checking to produce three unanswered goals in the late stages.

Our takeaways on a game that can be labelled ‘opportunity lost’ in big, bold letters:

THIRD AND LONG

While Washington is in the hunt for first place in the conference and a pushback of some kind was expected when Toronto took an improbable two-goal lead, Leafs veered away from doing the little things that tied up the home team’s potent offence — and paid dearly.

Matthew Knies lost his man at the blueline, leading to a pack of Caps around Woll and Connor McMichael banging in their first goal. On the tying marker, it seemed everyone — notably Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Morgan Rielly — was in the wrong place when Alex Ovechkin found Anthony Beauvillier uncovered at the side for a tap-in.

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Troy Stecher let Jakob Chychrun get away a far-side one-timer on the winner, the Caps defenceman now having scored in five consecutive games.

“We kind of got lost in coverage at times,” agreed captain Auston Matthews, speaking to the media in Washington. “They’re a team that really likes playing in the seams and likes to change sides.

“It’s a bit sour coming away from this one without any points, but we’re right back at it (Saturday in Pittsburgh).”

That has to mean more than words as the Leafs position in the standings worsens.

Until the third, the Leafs, or should we say Woll, had given up just two goals in two games. As they did in Columbus, the Leafs were able to get a favourable early call when a quick whistle negated a first-minute goal by Dylan Strome.

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NO HARM, NO FOULS

The officials weren’t so supportive of the Leafs when it came to assessing power plays on Friday.

Despite all the tinkering with their special teams of late, including a re-visit of the five-forward experiment, the Leafs weren’t given a single chance on Friday. Washington came in ranked 12th in the NHL in most minor penalties taken, and while they didn’t commit anything heinous that deserved sentencing, the Leafs had to fend off two man-advantages, including one to the usually well-behaved Matthews.

Eight of the past nine games have seen the Leafs given three or fewer man advantages. In six of the first seven October games, it was two or fewer.

“They’re calling it like they see it,” Matthews said, wary of inflammatory comments getting back to the league’s head office. “You have to play with the cards you’re dealt. I don’t know … you look at the game and there are chances that could be penalties, but you have to play the game.

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“In the end, we didn’t do enough to draw a lot of penalties.”

TAKE A BREATHER, JOE

Woll will be a spectator Saturday in Pittsburgh as Dennis Hildeby relieves him after six straight starts.

Woll faced 30 or more shots in all but one of those and was coming off the best performance by a Leafs goalie this year in Columbus.

He’d prefer a lot more than two overtime wins in that stretch. Yet with Anthony Stolarz’s struggles as October unfolded before getting hurt, Cayden Primeau unable to stick and Hildeby still finding his way in the NHL, Woll’s bounce back from missing camp and a month of play has been a godsend. He’s been cool in the heat of multiple high-danger chances.

“Again, down to the wire, a good game overall, it just came down to one goal,” Woll maintained. “I’m trying to stick to my process. It’s good to get back in, get playing and get into rhythm.

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“I’m a big believer in the results will take care of themselves. It’s unfortunate they are the way they are now. But it’s a lot of tight games and I like how we’re playing. It’s about doubling down on that, not getting frustrated;, stick to our system and let our game changers take over.”

On that note, John Tavares was stopped on a breakaway, Knies did score, but was also robbed by Logan Thompson’s glove with Woll pulled and Scott Laughton had two chances in alone. Tavares, Matthews, Knies and Bobby McMann had 12 of the Leafs’ 22 shots.

DOMI DROPPED, ILL WILLY MISSED

One of those dynamic Leafs Woll spoke of was too ill to play, Nylander waking up with a condition that  head coach Craig Berube said was not related to him taking Thursday’s practice off.

Nylander might be back Saturday and the back-to back would also be an opportunity to re-instate Max Domi after he followed Dakota Joshua as a high-profile scratch on Friday.

“I’ve gotta look at the lineup, what I think is best for tonight and that’s part of it,” Berube said of holding Domi back. “Then I just want to talk to him about getting a reset.”

It was the same language the coach used regarding Joshua prior to his benching in Columbus. Joshua did respond, with a hand in Rielly’s game-opening goal.

Lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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