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Matt Niskanen's goal lifts Washington Capitals past Toronto Maple Leafs

By Harvey Valentine, The Sports Xchange
Toronto Maple Leafs center Leo Komarov (47) fights for a lose puck in front of the net against Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19) in the first period at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on March 2, 2016. Photo by Mark Goldman/UPI
1 of 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs center Leo Komarov (47) fights for a lose puck in front of the net against Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19) in the first period at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on March 2, 2016. Photo by Mark Goldman/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON -- For the second straight night, defenseman Matt Niskanen celebrated after scoring a power-play goal to give Washington Capitals their final margin in a 3-2 victory.

This time, he'll probably get to keep the goal.

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Hours after his Tuesday night game-winner was credited instead to right winger T.J. Oshie, Niskanen tried again, firing a power-play goal at 9:31 of the third period to lift the Capitals over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.

"I don't know, did someone tip this one?," Niskanen joked when asked about Wednesday night's winner.

"Teams are going to look at the last couple games and now they're going have to find Nisky's shot, and that's going to open something else up," Oshie said of Niskanen's recent power-play work on a unit better known for left winger Alex Ovechkin's blasts.

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The matchup between the teams with the most and least points in the NHL was tied when Toronto right winger Nikita Soshnikov was called for boarding with 9:20 left.

Seconds later, Niskanen took a pass from center Nicklas Backstrom and fired a wrist shot from the point that got through a screen in front and past goaltender Jonathan Bernier.

"It's too bad I couldn't find a way to see the puck on that third one," Bernier said. "We battled hard. We stuck with it. I thought we deserved a better fate."

Toronto's Colin Greening made it 2-2 with a wrister from the slot at 8:18 of the third period, but the Capitals once again found an extra gear down the stretch.

"When it's on the line, the guys pay a price for it," coach Barry Trotz said. "That's a credit to them."

Washington, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Pittsburgh on Tuesday, took an early 2-0 lead against Toronto when defenseman Taylor Chorney and Ovechkin scored 28 seconds apart late in the first period.

It was Ovechkin's league-leading 41st goal.

Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves for the Capitals (47-12-4).

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Oshie assisted on all three goals and Nicklas Backstrom had two assists.

Soshnikov, one of the group of young players recalled from the American Hockey League over the weekend, scored his first career goal and Bernier stopped 20 shots for Toronto (21-31-10), which has lost three straight. He also accumulated six penalty minutes.

"Obviously Sosh showed you tonight what kind of fire and what kind of grit and what kind of talent he has," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "So that was good to see and we've just got to keep building."

Former Washington forward Brooks Laich returned to the Verizon Center three days after a trade sent him and defenseman Connor Carrick to Toronto in exchange for forward Daniel Winnik. Laich recorded two hits and blocked a shot in 14:17 of ice time while receiving a standing ovation from the Capitals faithful.

Winnik made his Capitals debut Wednesday and recorded a shot and three hits in 13:09.

Toronto failed on three first-period power plays and fell behind 2-0 during a 28-second stretch shortly before the first intermission.

After defenseman Martin Marincin's turnover, Chorney took a pass from Oshie and his shot was deflected slightly and went over Bernier's left shoulder to make it 1-0 at 18:43. It was Chorney's first NHL goal since Feb. 15, 2011, when he was with Edmonton.

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Ovechkin scored moments later when he one-timed a cross-ice backhand pass from Backstrom past Bernier.

Toronto scored 1:37 into the second period when Soshnikov beat Grubauer with a wrister from the right circle.

Washington managed only 12 shots in the first 40 minutes.

"We've been winning, except for Chicago there, but we've been in a little bit of a lull so we're fortunate that when we're playing like that we able to steal some points out of some teams," Oshie said.

NOTES: Capitals F Alex Ovechkin and F Evgeny Kuznetsov and D Dmitri Orlov were named to Team Russia for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Washington D John Carlson and F T.J. Oshie (Team USA), G Braden Holtby (Team Canada) and F Nicklas Backstrom (Team Sweden) were also selected for world cup rosters. ... Toronto D Morgan Rielly was named to Team North America and F Leo Komarov to Team Finland. ... Capitals D Nate Schmidt is day to day with a lower-body injury. C Michael Latta and RW Stanislav Galiev were also scratched for Washington. ... C Bryan Froese (broken hand) and RW Pierre-Alexander Parenteau (upper body) were the Toronto scratches.

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