WASHINGTON, D.C. – Doubt is not part of Mike Babcock’s vocabulary.
So it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that the Toronto Maple Leafs coach was telling Verizon Center employees “see you in a couple days” as he left here following a disappointing Game 5 loss. He had a similar message for reporters after Washington Capitals forward Justin Williams pushed the Leafs to the brink of elimination on Friday night.
“We believe we still have a chance to win and that’s what we’re going to do,” Babcock said.
[snippet id=3317575]
We’ve certainly moved beyond the point where Toronto’s disruptive presence here is a surprise. This has been the closest series in the entire first round, with Washington now ahead 16-15 in goals and the total shots deadlocked at 175 apiece.
The Capitals hold a 50.94-49.06 edge in percentage of shot attempts at even strength.
Only referendums get decided by slimmer margins.
Should the Leafs fail to win at home on Sunday night, and back here again on Tuesday, they’ll look back on this game as another missed opportunity. They held a slim advantage in the run of play at 5-on-5 but were unable to convert on any of four power-play opportunities – something that was a huge strength during the 82-game regular season.
Simply gaining the offensive zone was a serious challenge. The body language sagged and the Leafs players acknowledged that they were growing increasingly frustrated by a suffocating penalty kill.
“We’ve got to change something there,” said defenceman Jake Gardiner. “Tonight especially, even on the break-ins we couldn’t get in and we’ll have to readdress that tomorrow.
“They’re just doing a good job. Good sticks, moving their feet. We’re going to have to fix something.”
Toronto had the luxury of rolling out two dangerous units while compiling the second-most efficient power play in the NHL this season. Neither of them managed to set up in the offensive zone for too long on Friday and it showed with just four shots on Braden Holtby over eight minutes.
The Leafs typically like to drop the puck near the opposing blue line so that the puck carrier enters with speed and carves open lanes. It was a tendency the Capitals zeroed in on before the series began and they finally manage to shut off the open spaces in Game 5.
“We’ve just got to make sure that we’re not letting them come into our zone on the side that they want or with possession,” centre Jay Beagle said last week of Toronto’s power play. “From there, I can’t give you any more of my secrets.”
Before facing a must-win Game 6 at Air Canada Centre, Babcock will be searching out some answers. He intends to “go back to the drawing board” and make some adjustments.
He already did some experimenting on a third-period power play when he stationed six-foot-six Brian Boyle in Nazem Kadri’s usual spot in front of the net because Kadri was serving a penalty.
“Obviously, they got in our head a little bit there because we’re not coming with the same kind of pace we normally do on entries,” said Babcock. “But we’re going to have to win some faceoffs, we’ve got to win some battles and compete in that area because any way you look at it our specialty teams have been real good in some ways, but it cost us tonight.”
The only Washington goal in regulation came with the man advantage.
T.J. Oshie was in perfect position to sweep home a rebound after Nicklas Backstrom’s shot beat Frederik Andersen late in the first period. That came with their biggest 5-on-4 threat in the dressing room because Alex Ovechkin had taken a low hit from Kadri and missed the final 2:28 of that frame.
“I was watching TV (when Oshie scored),” said Ovechkin. “Just have a Coke and enjoy the match.”
The Leafs tilted the ice slightly in the middle frame – with Auston Matthews picking up his third goal of the playoffs to tie it 1-1 – and had their chances in the third. They played with a man advantage for 3:34 of that period, and nearly had James van Riemsdyk score during a power play after Holtby misplayed the puck.
Beyond that, there weren’t any dangerous looks.
“We need to keep things a little bit more simple,” said Matthews. “Just get pucks to the net. I think they do a pretty good job of staying four guys tight. We’ve just got to outnumber them at the net and try to get second-chance opportunities.”
There was some natural disappointment at how things ended.
Williams was wide open in the slot when he beat Andersen between the legs at 1:04 of overtime, burying a pass that Evgeny Kuznetsov slid around Matthews’ outstretched stick.
“They did a pretty good job of getting in deep and they had some good speed,” said Matthews. “I think it was just a little bit of miscommunication and then we left a guy wide alone in the slot. Pretty good player there.
“It could have been anybody’s game tonight, I thought we really bounced back from the previous game.”
Now they’ll need to do it again.
If not, a charmed season is over.
[relatedlinks]
