The Canadian Press
Jonas Siegel
TORONTO–Mike Babcock watched a young team, much like his own, get spanked by a veteran opponent on Tuesday night and wanted his players to be prepared for a similar situation.
After seeing the inexperienced Edmonton Oilers fall 7-0 to the San Jose Sharks, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ head coach explained to his club that the level of play would rise higher with every game that passed.
“It’s so important that you get off to a good start here tonight and prepare to compete,” Babcock said yesterday morning before Game 4.
“They’re going to compete. We have to compete,” he stressed.
It didn’t happen as everything Babcock warned his players about ultimately materialized in a 5-4 loss that pulled Washington even with Toronto at two games apiece in their first-round matchup.
The Capitals came out of the gate in the first period, scoring twice in the first five minutes for the second-straight game.
They pumped two more past Frederik Andersen before the opening frame was done–simply overwhelming the Leafs with their tenacity, skill, size, and presence in the offensive zone.
Toronto looked fast and full of skill in snatching two of the first three games, but none of that was evident through two periods last night.
The Leafs struggled to gain more than a single flurry of pressure against Braden Holtby.
“I thought today was the first time that maybe we weren’t scared enough of them and it looked like it because our competition level wasn’t good enough,” Babcock said afterward.
Babcock wasn’t so dismayed by a Game 1 loss for the confidence it brought the group.
This was different. This was a missed opportunity to wrestle hold of a series that his group wasn’t supposed to win.
Instead, opportunity slipped away.
Tom Wilson, who scored the overtime winner in the opener, had a pair in a dominant first period which saw the Caps outshoot the Leafs 15-6 and manage 26 even-strength shot attempts to just 14 for Toronto.
“We’ve got to be more prepared,” said Auston Matthews, who scored late in Toronto’s comeback attempt.
“We still have to be prepared to come out on time.”
James van Riemsdyk thought Washington may have made some tweaks to slow the Leafs down through the neutral zone.
But it went beyond just tactics for Babcock.
“We didn’t compete hard enough,” he remarked. “I thought they won all the battles and all the races.
“I thought they were quicker today. I thought we looked slow and I thought they looked fast.
“To me, that’s just real simple,” Babcock added. “I thought they executed better than us and they were on top of us instead of us executing better than them and getting on top of them.”
The Leafs had chances to win regardless. But failing to score with nearly two full minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage seemed to dull any comeback chances.
They twice closed the gap to one, but ultimately dropped a game they deserved to lose.
Whether they can adjust to the new level Washington seems to have established for Game 5 is now the question.
It’s evident, though, that the prospect of simply making it interesting with a superior Stanley Cup-contending opponent is gone.
The Leafs seem to believe they can–and maybe even should–pull off an unlikely upset.
“I think we feel like can come out and control the game,” Rielly said.
“It’s not about hanging on and trying to squeak one out,” he stressed. “It’s about controlling the play and being in the driver’s seat, and going out there and winning the game.
“Best of three now,” Andersen said. “And that’s our focus going into the next game.”
Elsewhere in the NHL playoffs, Ottawa nipped Boston 1-0 to lead their series 3-1, Anaheim beat Calgary 3-1 to sweep the Flames, and Minnesota blanked St. Louis 2-0 to stave off elimination.
