Toronto hits the road tonight seeking to rebound from a tough season-opening loss to the hated Montreal Canadiens Thursday at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs failed to hold on to a late one-goal lead and were dealt a 4-3 defeat when the Habs' Josh Gorges scored with only 13 seconds remaining in overtime.

Matt Stajan's second goal of the night gave Toronto a 3-2 edge near the midway point of the third period, but Montreal drew even on Glen Metropolit's power- play marker with 4:10 left in regulation.

The Leafs fell despite outshooting the Canadiens by a 46-27 margin.

"It was a tough loss, but we'll take the point," said Toronto defenseman and former Hab Mike Komisarek. "We did a lot of great things, but we still have to work on a lot of details."

Komisarek was playing his first regular-season game since leaving Montreal to sign a five-year, $22.5 million free-agent contract with the Maple Leafs over the summer.

The reigning Southeast Division champion Capitals got the season off to a flying start on Thursday, delivering a one-sided 4-1 victory on the road over a Boston Bruins club that topped Eastern Conference in points a year ago. Not surprisingly, Alexander Ovechkin led the way for Washington, with the two-time Hart Trophy recipient scoring a pair of goals and assisting on another.

Brooks Laich also had two goals and an assist for the Capitals, while Nicklas Backstrom finished with three helpers on the night. Goaltender Jose Theodore stopped 19-of-20 shots in a sharp performance between the pipes.

Washington outshot the Bruins by a 34-20 margin and was effective on the power play, converting 2-of-4 chances with the man advantage.

"We played a simple game and used our chances," said Ovechkin. "We deserved a win tonight."

The Capitals claimed the second overall seed in last year's Eastern Conference playoffs, where the team was ousted in the second round by eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh, partially because of outstanding play at the Verizon Center. Washington produced a 29-9-3 mark as the host during the regular- season, tied with Boston for the second-most wins on home ice.

These teams split four meetings during the 2008-09 season, as well as a pair of matchups held in Washington. In the most recent encounter in this series, the Leafs came through with a 3-2 shootout win in Toronto back in March.