Following sour ending, Caps seek smarter play vs. Leafs

The Washington Capitals will have something to prove when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.

The way their four-game winning streak ended with a 2-1 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night did not impress Capitals coach Spencer Carbery.

"Our puck play was obviously horrendous, so we couldn't string together passes," Carbery said. "You saw the execution. That's fine. You're going to have off nights where you can't keep a puck flat, it's bouncing everywhere, can't execute. ... The issue that I have -- and this is where we just have to continue to learn, and we'll work on it, we'll watch it, we'll get better at it -- on those nights, you've got to find a way to at least be able to get to a game that you can sustain some pressure."

Said forward Connor McMichael: "We got away from everything that we've been doing this whole season. We just weren't smart with the puck. We weren't making easy plays. We were trying to do too much. It's one we want to put behind us."

The Maple Leafs have won three in a row and 10 of their last 12 overall after using a three-goal outburst in the third period in a 3-2 victory over the visiting Nashville Predators on Wednesday. Captain Auston Matthews scored two goals and Mitchell Marner had three assists in the win.

The Capitals will be out to avenge a 4-3 overtime home loss to the Maple Leafs on Nov. 13, a game they led 3-1 after two periods. The Maple Leafs tied the game with two goals in the final 4:09 of the third period. Marner tied it with 58 seconds left and set up John Tavares for the game-winning goal at 4:13 of overtime.

Carbery feels the Capitals can take something out of that loss to Toronto.

"I think it gives us some confidence that we can play well because I felt we did a really nice job for two periods through that game," Carbery said on Wednesday. "I think that gives us confidence that we can go into their building and play at a high level and be competitive with them and do some good things."

Matthews did not play against the Capitals last month. He missed nine games with an upper-body injury. He has three goals and two assists in three games since his return.

"I thought tonight was his best game," Toronto coach Craig Berube said of Matthews on Wednesday. "I know he scored but to me he had his legs more tonight. He had his legs better and skated better and capitalized on his opportunities he got which is important, that's what he does. But overall, it's coming, it's coming."

Marner stretched his points streak to eight games (five goals, 11 assists). His first two assists came on the goals by Matthews at 31 seconds and 2:29 of the third period.

"I thought we defended well in the game and that's a very important part of our identity is playing good defense and defending and you've got to be patient," Berube said. "You can't force things and I thought we didn't do that. In the third, we got a little bit more mojo going and attacked a little bit more and created some more opportunities."

Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe (upper-body injury) missed his second consecutive game on Wednesday.

--Field Level Media