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A few things were slightly different at the Toronto Maple Leafs practice facility in Etobicoke, ON on Tuesday. The blue-and-white background used all season at MasterCard Centre for interviews had been replaced with one saying “Stanley Cup Playoffs….
The other difference was Leafs head coach Mike Babcock sounding more like a Sunday school teacher giving a lesson about David vs. Goliath and not-so-subtly applied the pressure on the Capitals, the two-time President’s Trophy winner and heavy Stanley Cup favorite.
"I’ve been the underdog lots and won. I’ve been the President’s Trophy winner and lost in the first round, fourth or fifth best record of all-time, 58 wins, lost in the first round to Edmonton.… Babcock said following practice. “If you let (Washington) get going, they’ll do some driving, but that ‘pucker factor’ is an unbelievable thing and until you’ve been the best seed, until you have your whole city expecting, you don’t know what that’s like and how good of a defense that is for the underdog.…
Practice time. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/r259G2gy1a
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 11, 2017
On the injury front, goalie Frederik Andersen took to the ice for the first time since being sideswiped by Tom Sestito on Saturday and indicated following practice that he hopes to be starting Game 1 on Thursday.
Tyler Bozak did not practice, but the Leafs center has been given frequent maintenance days in recent weeks and is expected to be ready on Thursday.
Ben Smith replaced Bozak in between James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner and the other lines were juggled, as William Nylander skated with Leo Komarov and Nazem Kadri, while Connor Brown lined up with fellow rookies Zach Hyman and Auston Matthews.
Defensemen Nikita Zaitsev and Roman Polak did not take part in practice and their status for the opening of the series is in question.
"We’ll see if they practice (on Wednesday). Both guys are progressing, we're optimistic both guys will be ready, but I can't guarantee anything." Babcock said.
Zaitsev staggered to the Leafs dressing room late in the first period on Sunday after being hit into the boards by Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno on Sunday and did not return, while Polak hobbled to the bench after getting tangled up with forward Boone Jenner and played only a few shifts in the third period.
Most prognosticators give Toronto of pulling the upset. Washington (9-to-2) is second only to Chicago in odds of winning the Cup, while Toronto is tied with Calgary, Boston and Nashville at 25-to-1. A dozen hockey reporters and observers from ESPN.com made their selections and all 12 chose Washington over the Leafs, but the message from the head coach to his club is to seize the opportunity in front of you.
“I told the young guys today, you think ‘Oh, next year, next year’. Next year never comes in sport. You make good on the opportunities you get. You put everything into it and if it doesn’t go your way, you regroup. Babcock said. “But put everything into it here, we’ve got an opportunity just like they do. We’re going to put our skates on just like they do. We’re going to Washington and we plan on winning.…
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