Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs preparing for Capitals; Playoff bound!
April 10, 2017, 9:58 AM ET [357 Comments]
Lucas Neilson
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At the end of the day, what matters most is the Toronto Maple Leafs are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If you were to have asked any Leafs fan at the start of the season if they would be upset that Toronto was playing against Ovechkin and the Capitals in round one, I would guarantee nobody would be upset about that outcome.

Have the Capitals choked before in the playoffs? They sure have!

Sure Ovechkin has 82 points in 84 playoff games and that’s impressive and all that. But guess what, he hasn’t won anything more than a bunch of trophy’s showing that he’s a selfish player who can score goals and lay the body. Big deal, the Leafs have other players to worry about more so than Ovechkin. They just have to watch Ovechkin on the power play with his lethal shot, that’s about it.

Ovechkin can ride in on his high horse for all I care. He’s never gotten the Capitals out of the second round of the playoffs and from Toronto’s point of view; if you want to take the cake, you have to knock off the big dog at some point.

When better than out the gates to spark the team and ignite Leafs Nation!

What’s worth noting is the Leafs making the playoffs after finishing in thirtieth place just last year. The youth has committed to playing for Mike Babcock and have fully bought into the system he and his coaching staff have implemented.

Toronto had one of the hardest schedules in the NHL this year, if not the hardest with all of those back-to-back games and of course the number of games they had down the final stretch versus such quality teams.

That’s all behind us now though; it’s time for us fans and the Leafs players to focus on the prize. This of course is sending the Capitals back to Washington with a box of kleanex for Ovechkin so that he has a safe flight back to Russia for a summer full of sulking.

Many fans around the league expect the inexperienced Leafs to have a difficult time against the Presidents’ Trophy winning Capitals.

Not me. Not this year, not this time and not against the Capitals.

Here is how I see it playing out…

The Leafs have nothing to lose, they are all young and really don’t know what it takes to win a playoff series at the NHL level. The vets of the team were part of the game seven collapse, and the rookies and young guns haven’t even had a taste yet of the post season.

Washington on the other hand has to deal with a dynamic Leafs team who will be flying out there with three scoring lines and a bruiser line to keep the Capitals defensemen honest and their heads up. We also know the boys in blue and white can fore-check with the best of them. It’s going to be a much tighter series than most fans predict and you can bet Babcock will have his players battling for every inch of the ice and every battle along the boards.

As long as the Leafs special team’s players are able to shut down Washington’s power play and continue to produce on theirs, it will be anyone’s series. The playoffs are a fresh start and the way I see it, Toronto has a 1/16 chance of taking the cake and it all starts here in round one.

Babcock is a natural born champion, let’s not forget this. He knows what it takes to win a game, a playoff game and a Stanley Cup.

Top 5 point’s breakdown:

Leafs:
Matthews: 40 goals, 29 assists, 69 points
Van Riemsdyk: 29 goals, 33 assists, 62 points
Kadri: 32 goals, 29 assists, 61 points
Nylander: 22 goals, 39 assists, 61 points
Marner: 19 goals, 42 assists, 61 points

Capitals:
Backstrom: 23 goals, 63 assists, 86 points
Ovechkin: 33 goals, 36 assists, 69 points
Kuznetsov: 19 goals, 40 assists, 59 points
Johansson: 24 goals, 34 assists, 58 points
Oshie: 33 goals, 23 assists, 56 points

Thursday night the showdown begins when the Capitals host the Maple Leafs 7pm EST.

I will have a heavy duty Leafs Nation amp up article on Wednesday to prime up the Nation.

Have a great day and here we go, PLAYOFFS!

Congratulations to the Leafs, huge season, epic even.

Go Leafs Go!