Babcock expects upbeat Maple Leafs to be better in Game 2

The Capitals rallied from down 2-0 to start thanks to two Justin Williams goals in regulation and beat the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime on a Tom Wilson goal.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – For those out there wondering about the psychological state of a team that played well enough to win its playoff opener, but didn’t, the Toronto Maple Leafs were in remarkably upbeat spirits upon returning to Verizon Center.

The only guys who touched the ice were scratches in Game 1. The rest of the group indulged in a boisterous game of keep-up with the soccer ball.

This can be fun, this whole playoff thing, even when things don’t go your way.

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It’s a message that’s been delivered to these young Leafs again and again the last few days. There’s little wonder why they so easily gravitated towards the positive aspects of their opener against the Washington Capitals, rather than the blown two-goal lead and disappointing overtime loss.

“I don’t think Washington’s a naïve team,” centre Nazem Kadri said Friday. “They’re smart, they’re well-coached, they’re well-educated. So I don’t think they took us lightly. They understood who they were playing against.

“We’re not discouraged. We’re going to keep coming and that game certainly is not going to intimidate us.”

This playoff run will mark the end of a unique grace period for the group.

Whether it lasts another three games or three weeks, the Leafs will not be subjected to the weight of expectations that produces the “pucker factor,” as Mike Babcock so eloquently put it.

They should savour it. That won’t still be the case in September – and, perhaps, not again until some distant future where Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner are on the downside of their careers.

It has created two separate conversations around this first-round series: One about the Caps, and what the comeback win says about their experience and likelihood of a long playoff run, and another about the Leafs, who are still just trying to figure this whole thing out and soak up what they can.

“Guys should be encouraged to go out and just give it everything they have,” said veteran Brian Boyle, by far the most playoff-tested member of the Leafs. “I mean stick within our structure, our system, but the only thing you’re going to regret is not giving it everything. Not jumping in front of a shot or not busting your ass to get back on a backcheck or maybe taking a bad penalty.”

This is effectively on-the-job training in high-stakes hockey.

The margins were impossibly small in the Caps’ comeback. Connor Brown had a chance to clear the puck while killing a 3-on-5 penalty and had it glance instead to T.J. Oshie, and soon in the Leafs net. Frederik Andersen failed to smother a puck that was under his pads before the second goal.

The big Dane was then on his knees when Tom Wilson beat him high from a tough angle in overtime, shortly after Martin Marincin narrowly missed lofting the puck out of the zone.

“The margin for error is slim, but at the same time you’ve got to play a true game,” observed Leafs defenceman Connor Carrick. “You have to play a real hockey game. You can’t be out there thinking about not making mistakes. The game gets exponentially more difficult, it becomes so hard, when you’re trying not to make mistakes.”

It was an effort good enough that Babcock isn’t compelled to make big changes. Nikita Zaitsev won’t be available for Game 2 – although the defenceman rode the stationary bike Friday, a potentially encouraging sign in his return-to-play protocol from a suspected concussion – so Marincin will remain in the lineup.

Based on the way things unfolded Thursday, Babcock will likely do what he can to get the Kadri line out against Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie as much as possible. The Leafs shutdown unit enjoyed success against that high-powered trio, at least until Capitals coach Barry Trotz altered the matchup to find his most dangerous offensive players more space.

“I wanted to play against them the whole game but I saw as the game went on they were kind of mixing and matching so they wouldn’t put them out against us,” said Kadri.

After having a chance to review the game tape, the Leafs coach wasn’t nearly as encouraged by the performance as he felt in real time. His team spent more time leading games than everyone but Washington this season and added another 34:25 to the total in Game 1.

Yet they couldn’t hold the lead – something they’ve been known to do – and Babcock was left sounding a more urgent tone than his players.

“I would expect them to be better, and I would expect us to be better,” he said. “That’s what happens in each series, and each round, you get better and better. There’s lots on the line. The great thing about the playoffs is you win so you can play again. If you don’t win, you go home.

“For us, it’s a huge game. A huge opportunity. They’re going to raise their game. We have a chance to see how good we can be.”

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