The Maple Leafs have earned an invitation to the dance.
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Babcock did not want to discuss what he told his youngsters but he did have an opinion on how they could lessen their anxiety – avoid the sports media. “The closer we get the bigger chance we have so you kind of start of thinking “Maybe, we’ve got a chance to get in here”.
I feel as though this game will go to whoever can dominate on the offensive end of the ice. We can’t let panic come into our game. The Leafs, however, never did have the consistent energy that Babcock thought he would see, and Columbus reeled off three goals by the end of the second, getting the victor from Cam Atkinson while shorthanded.
– Connor Brown scored his 20th goal of the season and the eventual victor less than three minutes later. Harpur led all Senators players in ice time during the game with almost 25 minutes.
“We’re going to try to win the game”, he said. “But obviously when we come this far we’re not going to be satisfied with anything but trying to move on and trying to win games so we’re not just happy to be here, we want to try to make our mark and play as well as we can”. “We were relaxed and loose for the most part today and it translated into us making plays and creating offense”. The veterans and his line mates have all had career years, with Tyler Bozak having already set a career-high in points when he hit 50 (he finished with 55) and Mitch Marner setting a new franchise rookie records in assists at 42.
“To be able to pull out this one was a pretty good feeling. It was a springboard for us the rest of the game”.
The Maple Leafs accomplished all of this after losing No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen at 2:01 of the second period after he was knocked to the ice by Pittsburgh’s Tom Sestito. McElhinney made the first save on Schultz, but couldn’t recover in time to stop Crosby, who was set up by Guentzel. I guess old habits die hard? Is it just me or have Senators goalies generally been awful handling the puck this season?
The Leafs would do their chances in round-one a big service if they could grab a point against Columbus tomorrow, thereby renewing the Battle of Ontario next week rather than entering the Conference quarterfinals as major underdogs to the President’s Trophy winners. “You might as well just jump in”, Babcock said.
“We’re going to have to go through a good team at some point”.
– The Tampa Bay Lightning, who visit Montreal (Friday), and the New York Islanders remain alive. “You know what? They’re hockey players”. “They’re a risky team”.
“A good win for our city and for our loyal fanbase”.
Alas, the 2-0 lead became 2-1 when Matt Calvert scored, and then it became 2-2 when Josh Anderson scored.
Look, we all know the deal here.
Toronto’s William Nylander hit a goal post nearing the midpoint of the first.
Toronto really began to tilt the ice midway through the first period. But on goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov in the third period, the Capitals tied the game. It also marked a turning point in Holtby’s season. Tristan Jarry was recalled from the Wilkes-Barre Penguins and will presumably back up Fleury. D John Carlson will miss the Capitals’ game at Boston on Saturday with a lower-body injury.
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And on Sunday, the Islanders’ home finale against the Sens starts at the same time as the Lightning’s finale against the Sabres (5 p.m. EDT), but the Leafs start an hour later at home against the Blue Jackets. Now they need two points over the final two games – they play Columbus on Sunday – to get in.
