The Maple Leafs just may be the team no one really wants to play…

It’s entirely likely that the more experienced Washington Capitals will outlast the young, upstart Maple Leafs in the first round of the ongoing NHL playoffs. But while the Leafs were the 8^th seed going into the spring showdown, my guess is they weren’t really a team the Caps wanted to play.

For that matter, I’m not sure any of the upper tier, high-seed clubs would really want the Leafs as an opponent right now. Why?  It’s not that they are not beatable. I’m sure they can be beaten. It’s just that they seem to have an attitude about them, some kind of self-belief that, despite the fact they haven’t won anything yet as a team and they are young and inexperienced (especially when it comes to NHL playoff hockey), they just know they’re good. They believe they can play with anyone.

Maybe they can.

While every team in the playoffs is dangerous, the Leafs have the kind of speed and skill level (and yes, youthful enthusiasm) that is hard for even the most determined teams to defend against.

That confidence maybe comes from Babcock, but it also has to do with the fact that there are a lot of young guys on this team that can flat out play. They’re fast. They’re well coached. They have an excellent netminder in Andersen who is stopping a lot of pucks. And, they seem to enjoy playing with one another, which has to count for something.

As with most teams at this time of year, the energy levels on the club are high.  While each game is a grind and there isn’t supposed to be much space, they’re creating chances and have buried just enough to be even in their series against the President’s Trophy winners.

They lost a heartbreaker on the road in Game 1. Their response? Play another strong road game, and keep playing to win. This time, they did.

They'll have to overcome another loss on the blueline, with Polak now done for the season. I like Polak a lot. He brings the kind of grit that every team needs, especially at this time of year. But teams like the Bruins are having their own challenges in terms of injuries and blueline depth, and managing to play pretty good playoff hockey, too. So Babcock will just have to tap the next guy on the shoulder and make sure they’re ready—especially if Zaitsev is not available for Game 3 on Monday night at the ACC.

That said, I don’t think anyone’s worried. They just seem ready to do what they have to do.

Heck, Gardiner has already played more than 65 minutes in the first two games of the playoffs. (I remember posting here years ago that he was one of those guys who could seemingly skate all day, play long shifts and rarely looked tired.) He can handle it.  For his part, Rielly has played almost 65 minutes as well and been a difference-maker, too.  It brings back memories of the salad days of McCabe and Kaberle on the Pat Quinn Toronto blueline of the early 2000s, when the duo would routinely play 30 minutes a night come playoff time, and more as needed in some of those classic overtimes contests.

Hunwick has logged over 60 minutes so far, and Marincin was a plus 2 in over 30 minutes of ice time in a high-stress Game 2.

Again, it just feels as though the Leafs can handle what the Caps have been throwing and will be able to throw at them.

Washington may have another gear we haven’t seen yet.  We'll see.  Maybe they underestimated the Leafs. Who knows?  But the important thing is the Leafs have clearly not underestimated themselves.

That doesn’t guarantee they will win the series, but I’d be stunned if they didn’t make it very, very difficult for the favoured Capitals to do so.