Milan Jurcina's third-period goal stood up as the winner and the Washington Capitals beat the sluggish Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Saturday night.
Karl Alzner also scored for Washington while Nik Antropov scored for the Maple Leafs.
It might end up being a particularly costly loss for Toronto as Luke Schenn and Niklas Hagman both left the game during the second period with injuries.
Alzner opened the scoring with his first NHL goal. The 20-year-old defenseman floated a shot past goalie Vesa Toskala -- who was screened by Alex Ovechkin -- at 1:41 of the second period.
The Capitals almost took a 2-0 lead midway through the period, but Brooks Laich's goal was called back after video review showed that he kicked the puck in the net.
Ovechkin has dominated the Leafs with 11 goals in 13 games against them during his career, but wasn't able to add to that total. He had a couple of good chances and was robbed by Toskala late in the second period when he broke free of defenseman Jeff Finger and nearly scored while lying on his stomach. He also had a shot go off the post in the third period.
The Leafs had a few more good chances in the third period, especially when Ovechkin took successive penalties.
Antropov broke through on the second of those power plays. He scored his 10th goal of the season at 6:12 of the third when he beat Brent Johnson with a wrist shot not long after the Caps goalie looked like he might have injured himself making a toe save.
Johnson stayed in the game and watched Jurcina score the winner a minute after Antropov had tied it. Jurcina's shot from the point found its way through a crowd and behind Toskala.
The Maple Leafs have won just four times in 13 home games this season.
Notes: After going 17 games without being outshot, the Leafs have been outshot in five of six games. ... Mike Green (shoulder), Sergei Fedorov (ankle), Tom Poti (groin), Alexander Semin (torso), Brian Pothier (concussion), Chris Clark (forearm), Jeff Schultz (finger) and John Erskine (concussion) sat out for the Caps. ... Toronto was without Jamal Mayers (hand), Jonas Frogren (arm) and Mike Van Ryn (hand). ... Former general manager Cliff Fletcher, now a consultant with the Leafs, attended his first home game since Brian Burke was hired as GM.
