The Washington Capitals had a great opportunity to put a dent into their quest to avoid the Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. They did until they didn’t.

Cannot lose that game.

• One of those games where you deserve to win and just don’t. I was really happy with the overall effort at five-on-five and it’s just a shame that it was wasted by a couple of late goals against. Out-attempting a team like Toronto 55 to 41 is something you’ll take ten times out of ten. Play like that and you have a chance in the playoffs.
• A game after setting his new, single-season career-high in goals with 16, John Carlson recorded his 54th assist of the season to give him 70 total points. He is just the 18th defenseman in NHL history with at least three 70-point seasons. Carlson is legitimately one of the best offensive defensemen ever.
• Peter was really happy with Nic Dowd‘s line and their efforts against the Auston Matthews line for the Leafs. That shows in the numbers as the Caps dominated at five-on-five with them out there. A plus-8 shot attempt differential, a plus-6 scoring chance differential, and a plus-4 high danger chance differential (none against).

Marcus Johansson gives the Caps a 3-1 lead with his ninth goal of the season. Johansson has points in four of his last five games (2g, 2a).

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 25, 2022

• Lars Eller scored a big goal and now has eight points in his last eight games. Have to give him credit, he stepped up when Connor McMichael really started to push him.
• The big news is obviously the Alex Ovechkin injury. He only played 14:40 of ice time in the game because of it. Brutal non-call on that trip.
• The Caps are now just one point back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for third in the Metropolitan Division and they have a game in hand. Safe to say these final three games are going to be a little important.

Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.