TORONTO — Spencer Carbery was fuming the last time his Capitals faced the Maple Leafs.
Washington's return visit to Toronto had their head coach positively glowing.
Carbery's group ground out a 3-1 victory against the team with the NHL's best home record Friday — and set a new franchise mark with an eighth straight road victory in the process.
"Great hockey game from our standpoint," Carbery said. "As good as we've played."
The second-year bench boss had a decidedly different tone Nov. 13 after Washington gave up two goals in the final five minutes of the third period — and had two others chalked off by video review — before falling 4-3 in overtime to an opponent playing on a back-to-back.
"Embarrassing," Carbery said following that loss to Toronto. "Unrecognizable from our team."
The Capitals (18-6-2) have bounced back nicely since that debacle, improving to 8-2-1 over their last 11 following Friday's win.
"We did a really good job of just keeping it simple," said Washington centre Connor McMichael, who scored the winner after a clearing attempt hit the referee and caromed in front of Toronto's net.
"Great road win."
The last four of those victories away from home have come minus captain and star sniper Alex Ovechkin. Just 26 goals back of Wayne Gretzky's all-time record, the 39-year-old broke his left fibula last month, but was on the ice in his equipment Thursday — just 2 1/2 weeks after getting hurt.
"We want to play to the standard that Ovie would expect," Capitals winger Tom Wilson said. "Everybody knows that they have to step up."
Washington held Toronto, which fell to 12-4-0 at Scotiabank Arena, to 21 shots by largely keeping a high-powered lineup led by Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner bottled up in the neutral zone.
"They've got about six or seven guys that can change the game in a split second," McMichael said.
Washington, which scraped into the playoffs last season despite a sputtering attack, entered Friday with an NHL-best 4.08 goals per game, but turned back the clock with an impressive defensive effort.
"That's about as good of a road game as you're going to find," Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren added. "We were all over the puck."
Leafs head coach Craig Berube said his players were second-best all night.
"They were just more competitive than us, played a harder game than us," he said. "Won more puck battles than us, skated better than us. They were just better."
Apart from setting a franchise record for road wins — Washington's last loss on the highway was Nov. 3 against in Carolina — the Capitals improved to 10-2-0 away from the D.C.
"Sometimes it just goes that way," Wilson said. "We've got a tight group. It's been fun getting to know all the new guys. They're fitting in really well.
"We just want to keep playing our game and showing up with our own energy and dictating play."
Carbery, meanwhile, was in a much better mood than the last time his current team faced his old club.
"Really proud," said the former Leafs assistant. "Playing on the road is where you show, to me, your true identity."
MCMICHAEL'S MOMENT
The 23-year-old from nearby Ajax, Ont., buried his 15th goal to tie Ovechkin for the team lead.
"I dreamed of playing in the NHL, and specifically this sheet of ice," said McMichael, the game's first star. "It's pretty cool to be able to do that in front of friends and family."
The 25th pick at the 2019 NHL draft scored 18 times in 2023-24 — his first full NHL season.
"Phenomenal start," Carbery said. "He's caught a lot of people's eyes."
4 NATIONS DISAPPOINTMENT
Wilson and Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson were among the players in the mix for Canada's roster at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off who didn't make the cut when the team was announced earlier this week
Washington defencemen John Carlson and Jacob Chychrun, meanwhile, didn't get the call for the United States.
"A couple guys were disappointed," Wilson said. "But this team means the most to us right now. We've got to just keep pushing forward."
Carbery said the snubs could light even more of a fire within his locker room.
"They're proud guys," he said. "They're pros and they can handle it, but they feel like they put a lot of good hockey on display this year. They're already ultra, ultra driven, so 4 Nations isn't going to affect their chase of us trying to be a playoff team.
"But it does give a little added, 'I'm going to continue to show why I should be in that tournament and why I'm one of the best in the world and why I should be representing my country.'"
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
