Capitals hand Maple Leafs first blanking in 71 games

The Washington Capitals snapped the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs' league-leading 70-game non-shutout streak with a smothering 4-0 win on Thursday night.

Jakob Chychrun scored twice while Logan Thompson stopped 22 shots for his second shutout of the season. Defenseman John Carlson flew past the 750-point mark on his career with a goal and two assists while Justin Sourdif chipped in with two helpers.

Toronto's Dennis Hildeby turned away 23 of Washington's 27 shots. The Maple Leafs were blanked for the first time in regular-season play since a 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 11.

Aleksei Protas opened the scoring at the 13:53 mark when he jostled his way to the inside to beat Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a slick Sourdif feed from behind the net. Chychrun doubled the lead less than three minutes later, pouncing on a puck that caromed off the sideboards to the front of the goal.

Chychrun provided the highlight of the game early in the third period, entering the zone on his lonesome and snapping the puck just inside the post past a stunned Hildeby. Carlson sealed the deal with a one-timed slap shot off a Sourdif drive on net.

The Capitals struck iron twice in the opening frame before finding the back of the net. Sonny Milano shimmied through the Leafs defense five minutes in, drawing a penalty on Scott Laughton for his efforts. Alex Ovechkin hit the post from his usual spot high in the faceoff circle on the resulting power play.

Ovechkin hit the post a second time in the middle frame off a no-look backhand dish from a streaking Dylan Strome. Laughton whiffed Toronto's best opportunity up to that point, shovelling a backhand attempt directly into Thompson's blocker off a Washington turnover.

Even with four power-play opportunities, the Leafs only registered 12 shots on goal through the first two periods. Toronto failed to capitalize on a fifth man advantage in the third.

The result snapped Toronto's three-game win streak on the road. Washington has won four straight against the Maple Leafs.

--Field Level Media