Sunday night in Toronto, the Washington Capitals have a chance to eliminate the Maple Leafs and move on to the second round. All they gotta do is win.
If you need a little dose of optimism, the Toronto Maple Leafs are 6-15 in best-of-seven playoff series when trailing 3-2 through five games.
Puck drop is a touch past 7 PM on NBCSN. Good tweet Pete will meet you in the recap.
Capitals lead the series 3-2.
| Team | Record | SA% | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Capitals | 55-19-8 | 53.2% | 103.0 | 23.1% (4th) | 83.8% (7th) |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 40-27-15 | 50.9% | 98.6 | 23.8% (2nd) | 82.5% (10th) |
Projected Lines
Karl Alzner is still day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The good boys:
Ovechkin – Backstrom – Oshie
Johansson – Kuznetsov – Williams
Burakovsky – Eller – Wilson
Winnik – Beagle – Connolly
Schmidt – Carlson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Shattenkirk
Holtby
No changes for the bad boys:
Hyman – Matthews – Nylander
Komarov – Kadri – Brown
JVR – Bozak – Marner
Martin – Boyle – Kapanen
Hunwick – Rielly
Gardiner – Zaitsev
Marincin – Carrick
Andersen
Playoff Chances
If you follow Micah’s playoff chances charts (you should), they’re super fun and not to mention pretty. Here is where the chart stands going into April 23. Things are looking good with the Leafs, but check out that potential second round matchup. A coin flip.
Playoff chances going into Saturday’s games. pic.twitter.com/yyJmDbzV9g
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) April 23, 2017
Look at this Baby
I do not know this baby, but they just became the most important human in my life.
My cousin Braden is Rocking the Red (and cheering on his namesake)! 🏒❤️ #LetsGoCaps #Capitals @Capitals @russianmachine @CSNCapitals pic.twitter.com/7gywX6oG4X
— Meghan Noury (@MeghanNoury8) April 23, 2017
Storylines
- There is a strong possibility Barry Trotz might be a murderer.
- I admire Steve Dangle a lot for his ability to simply say, “I don’t know what I think” about the Kadri-Ovechkin hit. Check out his LFR from the last game.
- Mr. Game 5 (and Mr. King of my Heart) Justin Williams gives the credit for his Game Five OTGWG to Jay Beagle.
- Braden Holtby is forever making us proud. He was announced as a Vezina trophy finalist.
- Nathan has some Game Five “morning after” numbers for you to glance over.
- The Kadri-Ovechkin hit had all of us worried, but not Alex Ovechkin. He just needed a lil’ soda and some chill time, just like we all do when we get overwhelmed.
- Do not read this post about something we don’t want to talk about but we needed to.
- The Hershey Bears are nailing it after Chris Bourque scored the GWG with 33 seconds left. The Bears are winning their series 2-0.
- The Caps need to do everything in their power to get rid of the Maple Leafs. It’s almost summer, time to rake these boys into the garbage.
- Braden Holtby had one major upset last game, involving an orange balloon.
Something to Believe In
All we need now is a first-time cup
— Muneeb Alam (@muneebalamcu) April 23, 2017
Full Coverage of Caps at Maple Leafs
Headline photo: Rob Carr
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