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The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to continue their Cinderella story and take a strangle hold in Game 4 of their opening round series against the Washington Capitals at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday.
The Leafs took advantage of an incomplete effort from the Capitals, rallying from a two-goal deficit to win Game 3 on Monday on Tyler Bozak’s overtime power play goal, but will have to put forth their best effort and not depend on Washington making the same mistake if they want to take a commanding lead in the best-of-seven series.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock has been masterful using the media to keep the pressure on the heavily favored Caps and off of his squad, as well as using the events of other playoff series as cautionary tales against his young group getting overconfident.
“I think most playoff games have been tight, but you just saw Edmonton and San Jose (a 7-0 Sharks pummeling of the Oilers) last night. Obviously, you've got to play well. It's important for us to get off to a good start here tonight.… Babcock said on Wednesday morning. “There's two parts to that equation — one team relaxes and feels pretty good about themselves, talks to everybody and they all tell you how great they're doing and the other team gets prepared. We talked about that after game one, after game two and we'll continue to talk about it. It's so important that you get off to a good start here tonight and prepare to compete. They're going to compete; we have to compete.…
Many believe that the pressure pendulum has swung decidedly towards Washington (with their history of playoff disappointment), but the opportunity for Toronto to go up 3-1 in front of the home fans starving for playoff success could prevent the Leafs from playing fast and loose.
Babcock will endeavor to keep the checking line of Leo Komarov, Nazem Kadri and Connor Brown matched up against the Caps top line of TJ Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin.
A new chapter is written tonight. #StandWitness pic.twitter.com/RXQsNh9Jm2
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 17, 2017
“I think we've all known Leo has always been like that and (Kadri) has really picked that part of his game up.… Babcock said. “They have an ability to wear on you and keep grinding on you.…
Kadri’s hits on Caps blueliner Brooks Orpik and Komarov irritating Ovechkin proved effective in jump-starting the Leafs after falling behind 2-0.
"(Komarov) is a good solid player.… Ovechkin said of his former KHL teammate. “Obviously, he’s a kind of a rat out there, he’s trying to get under your skin."
Washington will be without defenseman Karl Alzner, who missed Game 3 with an unspecified upper-body injury but skated with the extra players on Wednesday morning.
Caps coach Barry Trotz is also tinkering with his forward lines, moving winger Tom Wilson to the third line with Lars Eller and Andre Burakovsky and shifting Brett Connolly to the fourth line with Jay Beagle and Daniel Winnik. *******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.******* KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.