3 least impressive Toronto Maple Leafs players from 5-2 loss to Washington Capitals feat. Matt Murray

The Toronto Maple Leafs, fresh off a victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night, returned home to Scotiabank Arena to face the Washington Capitals in a Saturday night matchup.

But rather than making it two victories in less than 24 hours, the Maple Leafs became the latest victims of the surging Capitals, who have authored one of the most impressive seasons in recent memory for a club that most had projected to be on the verge of a difficult rebuilding process.

Washington earned a 5-2 victory, improving its record to an impressive 24-9-2. The Leafs fell to 22-13-2.

Things began well for the Maple Leafs, who opened the scoring thanks to former captain John Tavares' 18th goal. But the Capitals responded twice in just over four minutes with goals from Andrew Mangiapane and Jakob Chychrun.

The Toronto Maple Leafs managed to knot the score at 2-2 after Bobby McMann scored his 10th goal, only to see the Capitals reclaim the lead for good less than two minutes later thanks to Nic Dowd’s ninth goal.

In the third period, the Capitals got goals from Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin (empty net). For Ovechkin, it was a triumphant return to the lineup after missing the last 16 games with a fractured fibula. He also moved to within 26 goals of Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894.

3 least impressive Toronto Maple Leafs players from 5-2 loss to Washington Capitals

#1. Matt Murray

Despite picking up his first NHL victory since 2023 earlier this month when he was summoned to the Leafs from the AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies, Murray fell back to earth on Saturday night.

He was victimized by the Capitals for four goals on 31 shots, including at least two that he’d love a second chance on.

Murray is with the Maple Leafs right now thanks to the injury to Anthony Stolarz, who was placed on injured reserve by Toronto earlier in the month.

#2. William Nylander

One of Toronto’s most gifted forwards, Nylander wasn’t able to generate anything offensively for his club while also finishing with a minus-2 rating. He also committed a pair of giveaways.

#3. Morgan Rielly

The top Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman didn’t fare much better than his longtime teammate Nylander, as he also had a subpar outing with a minus-2 rating along with a pair of giveaways.

Rielly's performance means that he now has a team-low minus-8 rating for the season, something he’ll want to correct in short order.