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The Toronto Maple Leafs have exceeded the expectations of many hockey experts, who thought the club would get swept or maybe win a game against the Washington Capitals, but a win in Game 6 on Sunday at Air Canada Centre will force the first round series to a seventh and deciding game at Verizon Center on Tuesday.
“You've got to love the opportunity we have here. We've earned this opportunity, we're right here. You want to play game seven in Washington. Come on. You want to. In order to do that, you've got to earn it.… Leafs coach Mike Babcock said on Sunday morning. “I think it was (Caps coach Barry Trotz) who said they've got to push us off the cliff. We've got make sure they don't, it's just that simple. If you're not loving this today or enjoying it, you shouldn't be in hockey.…
The upstart Leafs have forced the President’s Trophy winners to overtime four times, the last being a 2-1 loss in Game 5 on Friday with Justin Williams scoring 64 seconds into extra time.
Babcock has given the lion’s share of ice time to four defensemen since the injury to Roman Polak; Jake Gardiner(28:52 TOI), Morgan Rielly (26:59), Matt Hunwick (25:09) and Nikita Zaitsev (21:00), with Martin Marincin logging just under 17 minutes and Connor Carrick averaging 12:38 per game.
On Friday, one-third of Marincin’s ice time came on the penalty kill and Carrick saw a team-low 6:31.
Kadri says the Leafs are confident ahead of win-or-go-home Game 6.
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 23, 2017
"I think Washington's a beautiful city, so I wouldn't mind going back." pic.twitter.com/Ub5j0OHHBb
The Capitals plan of attack on Friday was to lay the body and wear down Leafs minute eaters like Gardiner and Rielly and they were successful, as Alex Ovechkin hammered Gardiner twice and Washington forwards furiously forechecked and cycled the puck in the Toronto zone.
The Leafs were unsuccessful in the faceoff circle (Kadri – 27%, Bozak – 47%, Matthews – 38%) and will need to improve to possess the puck more, as well as using their speed to stretch the Caps defense.
“It's no big deal you lost a neutral zone faceoff but then you spend a ton of time in your zone. If you want to have 35 or 30-second shifts, 10 seconds is off that faceoff loss and you're digging it out trying to get it back.… Babcock said. “I think that would be an area we need to bear down on for sure. They're either going to be on our D or we're going to be on their D. There's not a whole lot in-between.…
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After being shutout in the opening game of their best-of-five opening round series on Thursday, the Toronto Marlies rebounded with a 6-2 victory over the Albany Devils at the Times Union Center on Saturday.
Kerby Rychel, Sergey Kalinin, Frederik Gauthier, Colin Greening, Andreas Johnsson and Trevor Moore scored for Toronto and Garret Sparks made 16 saves for the victory, but was replaced by backup Kasimir Kaskisuo in the third period after colliding with Devils forward Miles Wood.
Sparks was held out for precautionary reasons and no update was provided after the game, so it is unknown whether he or Kaskisuo will be in goal for Game 3 at Ricoh Coliseum on Wednesday.
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