Tyler Bozak netted a power-play goal 1:37 into overtime to propel the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 home victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the First-Round Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night.

Tyler Bozak Scores In OT, Leafs Beat Capitals In Game 3


The Maple Leafs now lead the Stanley Cup Playoff series 2-1, with Game 4 set for Wednesday at 7 pm EST at Air Canada Centre.

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Auston Matthews and William Nylander each scored his first-ever NHL Playoff goal for Toronto, Nazem Kadri also contributed a goal, and Frederik Andersen finished with 23 saves for the Maple Leafs.

“It’s a lot of emotions,” Bozak said. “You just want to be with your teammates and celebrate. Obviously, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs in this series. Every game is overtime. So those are the most fun games to play definitely, so it’s nice that we got rewarded tonight.”

Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals. Backstrom added an assist, and Braden Holtby made 24 saves for Washington.

The Capitals held a two-man advantage for two full minutes at 6:52 of the second period after Matt Hunwick was called for hooking and Matt Martin was given a double minor for roughing, but Toronto killed that penalty off.

“We should have scored there, absolutely I think so,” Backstrom said. “You have to take advantage of that.”

Andersen felt it was a turning point.

“That was phenomenal,” Andersen said. “I think it led to us being able to come back.”

Shortly after this, Toronto’s Mitchell Marner exited the penalty box and chased after a look puck. Holtby came far out of his net to poke-check the puck away above the right face-off circle before racing back to the goal.

The Leafs killed off another penalty for too many men on the ice at 9:48 of the second.

Washington scored on each of its first two shots to gain a 2-0 lead just 4:49 into the game. Backstrom took a centering assist from Nate Schmidt, who brought the puck deep into the Maple Leafs zone and one-timed a shot past Andersen at 2:43. Ovechkin made it 2-0 just 2:06 later on a one-timer from the top of the left circle.

Mathews made it 2-1 at 14:08 when he fired his own rebound past Holtby.

Bozak’s goal came on a redirection of Kadri’s pass in the slot after carrying the puck down the left win boards.

Andersen made a brilliant toe save on a wraparound shot from Kuznetsov at 18:41 of the second period, although Nylander scored 39 seconds later to tie it 3-3.

The other three first-round Game 3s on Monday night ended in overtime. The Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Nashville Predators 3-2 to trail their series 3-0, the Ottawa Senators beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 to 2-1, and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Calgary Flames 5-4 to lead their series 3-0.

TORONTO, ON – APRIL 17: Tyler Bozak #42 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his game winning goal in the 1st overtime against the Washington Capitals in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Air Canada Centre on April 17, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Capitals 4-3 in overtime and take a 2-1 series lead.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

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