Morgan Rielly’s first goal of the season stood up as the winner for Toronto in the Maple Leafs’ 5-1 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Michael Bunting, with a goal and an assist, William Nylander, Pierre Engvall and Zach Aston-Reese provided the rest of the offence for Toronto (31-12-8). Ilya Samsonov made 23 saves in his sixth straight start — and seventh consecutive appearance.
Leafs captain John Tavares, who played the 1,000th regular-season game of his NHL career, was honoured by the team with a ceremony before the rare 5 p.m. ET puck drop at Scotiabank Arena.
Watch | Maple Leafs pay tribute to Tavares in 1,000th regular-season game:
Toronto Maple Leafs honoured forward John Tavares with a ceremony for reaching 1,000th NHL game.
Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said earlier in the day goaltender Matt Murray (ankle) will be out through the NHL all-star break and the club’s subsequent bye week, but added the injury isn’t expected to keep him out long-term.
Down 1-0 after the first period, Toronto got even 1:29 of the second when Bunting slid his 15th goal of the season past Kuemper on a power play.
Rielly then snapped his first of the campaign — the defenceman looked skyward in relief as he celebrated — at exactly seven minutes to make it 2-1.
Watch | Rielly nets 1st goal of season in 5-1 win over Capitals:
Morgan Rielly’s second period goal held up as the winner, giving Toronto a 5-1 win over Washington.
Nylander added his team-leading 28th on a delayed penalty at 10:45 before Engvall scored his 10th at 14:20 for a 4-1 advantage that spelled the end of Kuemper’s outing.
Leafs centre David Kampf picked up an assist on Toronto’s fourth goal for the 100th point of his career.
Aston-Reese rounded out the scoring with 3:13 left in regulation with his fifth.
Washington opened the scoring…
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