Capitals top Maple Leafs, Bruins stay alive
Time to dig in, as Mike WASHINGTON Babcock would say.
The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have a choice.
Justin Williams scored at 1:04 of overtime on Friday night at the Verizon Center, giving the Washington Capitals a 2-1 victory in Game 5.
The Capitals grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series, one that has been much tougher than they would have thought, and can win it at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday night. A date with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round would await.
If the Leafs prevail, it’s back to the Verizon Center for a deciding Game 7 on Tuesday. That’s not a scenario the Caps, winners of the Presidents’ Trophy in the regular season, want. No matter how loud their home building is, they’d love some time to recover before squaring off with Crosby.
The Leafs played a hell of a road game and though it was not perfect, it couldn’t have been much better (though the power play will get a serious look in the next 48 hours).
Babcock wanted his players to respond after a subpar effort in Game 4 and they did that. The same kind of labour has to come on Sunday if they want to survive. And the Leafs know the Capitals will be bringing everything.
What’s more, the Leafs have to find the mental strength to win two in a row. Nobody said this playoffs thing was going to be easy.
Williams got the winner when most of the Leafs were caught down low. Williams, in the slot, took a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov and beat goaltender Frederik Andersen between the legs.
A Braden Holtby save on James van Riemsdyk during a Toronto power play in the third period was large. Later, Holtby made a big stop on a van Riemsdyk deflection.
Down 1-0 in the second period, the Leafs tied the game at even strength at the six-minute mark when the Auston Matthews line went to work. Again.
Matthews scored for the third consecutive game.
Matthews and William Nylander cycled the puck on the play that led to the goal. When Zach Hyman created havoc in front of Holtby, Matthews collected Nylander’s rebound and scored.
In the morning, Matthews, named a Calder Trophy finalist the night before, was taking nothing for granted.
“It’s important to stay in the moment just because we’re a young team in a rebuild,” Matthews said.
“If we make the playoffs one year, it doesn’t mean we’re going to make the playoffs the next year.
“Just each game, myself personally, I feel like I’ve got better. You kind of get more comfortable and know what to expect each and every night. There’s not too much space, it’s going to be pretty physical.”
There wasn’t much in the way of bad blood between the clubs through the first four games.
There was a turn toward some ugliness in Game 5.
Nazem Kadri caught Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin with a hip check on the left leg toward the end of the first period, sending Ovechkin to the ice and eventually the dressing room.
The Caps tried to get at Kadri, who was assessed a tripping minor at 17:32.
Washington scored on the power play, with T.J. Oshie collecting the puck after Nicklas Backstrom hit the post and putting it into an open net.
Ovechkin appeared to have suffered a serious injury as he clutched his leg and fell to the ice.
However, Ovechkin returned to start the second period and hammered Jake Gardiner on the first shift. Ovechkin, who had flattened Gardiner with an open-ice hit in the first period, was fine after all.
Despite the health of their leader, the Caps couldn’t get Kadri out of their minds. At 19:34 of the second, Washington defenceman Matt Niskanen gave Kadri a hard slash to the back of the leg, sending the Leafs forward to the ice in pain. Niskanen was penalized and Ovechkin yelled at Kadri before play resumed.
The Leafs’ power play sputtered in the second period, when they failed to record a shot on goal on either advantage.
A glove save by Andersen on Kuznetsov in the first period was among the netminder’s better saves of the series. The Caps challenged, hoping for video evidence that Andersen’s glove was behind the goalline when he caught the puck, but the great stop stood.
If we make the playoffs one year, it doesn’t mean we’re going to make the playoffs the next year.