The 16-game absence was the longest consecutive absence of Ovechkin’s career. He had only missed 59 games since entering the league in 2005-06.

“I thought he was solid. It’s going to take some time,” Carbery said. “I know we all want him to just hit the ground running and play like he left off in Utah, but he’s missed a lot of time and needs game reps to get up to speed. But I thought he was solid and played in all the situations we needed him to.”

The Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead at 3:14 of the first period when Simon Benoit’s shot from the top of the left circle deflected off Tavares at the top of the goal crease.

“There’s no end in this locker room,” Thompson said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, we knew they played last night and felt good, so credit goes to the boys. We stuck with it, it definitely wasn’t an easy game. It’s a really talented, well-coached hockey club there.”

Mangiapane tied the game at 1-1 at 4:46 when he carried the puck in a 2-on-1 duel with Jakub Vrana and shot between Murray’s pads from the left faceoff dot.

Chychrun gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 8:54 when he buried a pass from Trevor van Riemsdyk at the top of the right faceoff circle past Murray’s glove for his 10th goal of the season.

“I’m sure he wants some back, but he hasn’t played much hockey,” Berube said. “He fought, he fought.”

Thompson maintained the score at 2-1, beating William Nylander twice; Once at 2:27 p.m., when he reached back with his glove to catch an out-of-position shot at the goal line, and again at 5:25 p.m., when he stopped a breakaway.

“This happens,” Nylander said. “The goalkeeper makes a great save. I had some great chances to score and didn’t take advantage of them. That’s probably one of the reasons we lost and they played well too. But the chances I had at the start would have given us a small lead if I had scored.”

McMann made it 2-2 at 8:10 of the second period when he scored his own rebound in a 2-on-1 duel with Max Domi.

NOTES: Ovechkin’s goal was his 60th career empty-net goal, the most in NHL history. … Chychrun became the third defenseman this season to score 10 goals, joining Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who each scored 11 goals.