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Mark Giordano knew how exactly how he’d honour his late father with his next goal.

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He just wasn’t sure when he’d be in the lineup again or get the scoring chances that rarely come for 40-year-old defencemen.

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But in a surprise start Thursday, he kick-started the Maple Leafs to a vital 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals and when his well-placed wrister beat Charlie Lindgren’s blocker side, he gestured skyward. Paul Giordano died suddenly in February, Mark missed time with bereavement leave and then soon after his return, a concussion sidelined him 12 games.

“It’s something I promised I’d do after my Dad passed,” Giordano said. “The way it was going, it looked like it might not happen. It was nothing too big, but pretty special for me. My Dad was a jokester, a good guy, we miss him. There were moments when it’s really tough on the family, but we rally around each other like we always do.”

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Thursday’s efforts of Giordano, who became the second-oldest Leaf defender to score after Allan Stanley, and TJ Brodie will help change the narrative on the lack of defensive depth with the Leafs as playoffs approach.

Missing injured starters Morgan Rielly, Joel Edmundson and Timothy Liljegren, Toronto leaned on the two veterans, dodging three straight losses and restoring equilibrium to a roster that’s been beat up late in regular season. Coach Sheldon Keefe was certainly in a better mood after blasting his team, particularly the veterans and stars, after Tuesday’s home loss to the Devils.   

Giordano was quietly activated late Thursday from injured reserve to replace Liljegren, whom Keefe said couldn’t play through a recent injury and will now “miss some time”.

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“It was a good sound team game for us,” Keefe said. “We know Gio is the ultimate pro, who worked extremely hard to get back. Brodie cleaned some things up when we needed it. We have nine defencemen here and now we’ve efficiently used all nine the last little bit.

“The team played well in front of the defence (two goals from Tyler Bertuzzi, one each from Bobby McMann and Connor Dewar) and the whole team played well in front of the goalie (Joseph Woll’s 23 saves).”  

Giordano played with Conor Timmins, while Brodie blocked three shots early in the game and with partner Ilya Lyubushkin also generated scoring chances. Brodie’s season has been plagued by inconsistencies that led to a recent benching.  

Giordano’s goal was part of a 19-shot first period to go with 25 to kick off the New Jersey game. Thursday they didn’t let up, scoring 18 ticks into the second period with a strong push and Bertuzzi banking a shot off Lindgren from behind the net. He’s now up to 18 goals after a difficult first half of the schedule.

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“Puck luck’s a big thing,” Keefe said. “Tonight, he got one from below the goal line. Before, he couldn’t get them above the goal line, wide open with empty nets.”

Max Domi hit the crossbar on a long breakaway that might have put the Caps on ice a lot quicker and later pressured Trevor van Riemsdyk into coughing up a puck for Bertuzzi’s second. After the Caps got on the board with a Nic Dowd deflection, the fourth line did some heavy lifting when David Kampf and Ryan Reaves set up Dewar’s first as a Leaf. Toronto was two shots shy of 50 and cleared 40 in consecutive games for the first time this year.

In the post-season picture, Toronto put four points between it and the wildcard Tampa Bay Lightning, both now down to 10 games.

Auston Matthews did everything but score his NHL-leading 60^th goal, 10 shots, 14 attempts, winning 12 of 17 playoffs. He was able to make it an all-star match-up against Alex Ovechkin after staying home in the morning with what Keefe hinted was a non-flu-related illness. He has missed Mitch Marner, now nine games absent with a sprained ankle.

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Ovechkin, who scored a couple against the Leafs last week in a losing cause, came in with 44 goals, 33 assists and 77 points versus the Leafs. NHL Stats lists that as the most by any player against Toronto this century, certainly the most against any team outside his own division. But the Leafs held him to a couple of shots twice defusing the Caps’ hot power play. Ovechkin remains 46 goals behind Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894.

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