Leafs Postgame: Wrong Will Has His Way

Well, that was something. Something chippy, something yappy, something violent, something exciting, something mystifying, something uplifting, something soul-crushing. Just.. something. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals met at the Verizon Center for a pivotal Game 5, and while the Blue and White put up a heck of a fight, they ultimately fell 2-1 in the fourth sudden-death overtime of the series.

The curse of early first period goals was snapped in this one, as Toronto did a relatively decent job of keeping the fort held. However, as the period progressed, Toronto found itself in penalty trouble. Brian Boyle was called for a hook on Lars Eller, and then, as I’m sure you’ve heard just about everywhere, Nazem Kadri threw a very questionable hit on Alexander Ovechkin, which at first appeared to injure him.

Kadri was called for tripping on the play, which set up a second Capitals powerplay. This time, they made no mistake; a Nicklas Backstrom shot from the far wing was able to find its way to the net, and TJ Oshie calmly deposited the rebound.

Through the hacking, slashing, hitting and chirping that followed the Kadri incident into the second period, the Leafs found a way to get back in the game. Once again, Auston Matthews was the hero, scoring his third of the playoffs to tie the game at 1.

Tempers flared at the end of the period, thanks to a slash by Matt Niskanen on Kadri’s knee; something that wasn’t initially noticed by many (myself included) who believed that Kadri embellished on Ovechkin’s handiwork. But it was good that all went down in the last minute period, as it minimized the extracurriculars in the third. Unfortunately, not much of anything happened in the third; the two teams traded chances, but the game eventually found its way to overtime.

In the extra frame….

So much goes wrong here. Preferably, Frederik Andersen leaves the net a little bit sooner to play the puck. He doesn’t. Then, when deciding which of the two players will play the puck, Matt Hunwick and Morgan Rielly both go for it. Auston Matthews is too far in deep to help out much, as and both Zach Hyman and William Nylander are closer to the point, as they regularly should be. But this gives Justin Williams, fresh off the bench, all the room to bury the overtime winner once Marcus Johansson finds his pathway out. Just a rough, rough effort altogether.

Frederik Andersen was excellent tonight, stopping 26 of 28 shots. Sure, as mentioned above, he could’ve made a better split second reaction on the Williams goal, but he made a bevy of great saves that got them into the extra frame in the first place. Full credit to him.

It’s do or die on Sunday. Win and Babcock’s prophecy becomes true. Lose and the season comes to a close. Find out the outcome at 7:00 PM.