There can be no doubt: this was the best series in the first round of Stanley Cup playoffs. The Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs played an intense, fast-paced, and evenly matched six games.
But now it’s over. Washington won.
After a series of plentiful scoring and endless highlights, we had a slog through forty minutes. In the third, Auston Matthews got a crazy bounce off a dump-in for a layup, but then Marcus Johansson drove hard to the corner of the net to tie it up with seven minutes left. That pushed us into our fifth overtime, where Marcus Johansson finished it with a ferocious fight from point blank.
Caps win 2-1 in overtime! Caps win the series 4-2!
- The Leafs outworked and outperformed the Caps in the first thirty minutes, even with Barry Trotz getting Orlov/Niskanen against the Matthews line. Toronto’s performance didn’t look like desperation to me so much as determination. That’s just a good hockey club they got up there.
- The Leafs’ domination meant a heavy workload for Caps goalie Braden Holtby. Holtby was tremendous, but goalies don’t win hockey games — they just help you not lose them. Holtby saved 37 of 38 for a .974.
- Later in the second period, the Caps got their mojo working. Led by a spirited effort from the middle-six forwards, the chances belonged decisively to Washington. Justin Williams, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky, and Lars Eller all got gourmet opportunities, but Freddie Andersen wasn’t bad either.
- Meanwhile, Jay Beagle had a rough outing. He struggled on the faceoff dot early on and was a lonely disaster according to the shot metrics.
- With yet another weird-ass bounce that you see maybe twice a season, Auston Matthews‘ third period goal gave him a four-game streak. He’s a special player because of his probability distortion field, a la Longshot from X-Men.
Worst. Bounce. Ever. pic.twitter.com/SRCpwvwfiR
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 24, 2017
- A bounce like that (and a game margin so narrow that allowed mercurial bounces to be so impactful) could have wrecked the Caps, but Marcus Johansson — maybe Washington’s best player this postseason (update: uh yeah.) — did what he’s done all series: carried the puck deliberately into the crease and beat Frederik Andersen short-side to tie it up.
- Then the Unbreakable Nate Schmidt collapsed after a knee-on-knee hit by Leo Komarov. Favoring one leg, Schmidt struggled to get off the ice and needed attention from the trainers. There was no penalty. Schmidt returned late in the third. This was a very trying ordeal for me and my family, and we appreciate your support.
- Justin Bieber was at the game. I’ll just say that his jersey’s nameplate read DA BIEBZ and move on.
- So much overtime. Washing down antacid tablets with pepto all series. Five times is ridiculous, and maybe not in a good way. Least deliberative way to decide a series? I don’t care. It’s over now.
Joe B suit of the night
That was an agonizing series. It was tight as hell, but the Caps showed so much passion and intensity in that overtime. They earned this series win with sweat and blood and cola.
Bravo, Maple Leafs. It turns out they are actually good. Actually, they’re damn good. They’re gonna win a Cup and soon. But not this year.
A parting wave to our friends up north. Leafs fans were hands-down the best fans we’ve had the pleasure of hating in the playoffs. Thank you for being lovely people. You deserve a team as fun as you are.
The most Canadian thing ever pic.twitter.com/Xv134TPkt3
— Ryan Ellis (@ryanellisracing) April 24, 2017
Now, how about Marcus Johansson?!
