Leafs Look to Take Series Lead in Game 3 at Home

The fans. What a game, and what a series - three straight overtime affairs and a series that has the look of going the distance. The Maple Leafs are 7-20 in their last 27 Wednesday games, 13-6 in their last 19 vs. He joined The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan Tuesday morning, after the Capitals blew a 2-0 lead to fall behind in their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, revealing his thoughts on the team's struggles. Backstrom also had an assist, and T.J. Oshie recorded two assists.

With Alzner out, Nate Schmidt is expected to again take his place in the lineup.

Leafs defenceman Nikita Zaitsev is a good bet to make his series debut after sitting out the first two games with a suspected concussion. The Capitals' Game 1 overtime hero, Wilson the Toronto native is back and ready to be public enemy No. 1 at Air Canada Centre. Could Toronto send the favorites to an early elimination?

So, a win for the Leafs and they put a strangle hold on this series going back to Washington.

However, I think that first overtime loss in game one pushed the Leafs further in their quest for the Stanley Cup, lighting a spark amongst the players.

Maple Leafs goal: Auston Matthews from Morgan Rielly at 14:08 in the 1st period.

Well before the game dragged into overtime, the Maple Leafs lost rugged defenseman Roman Polak to a gruesome injury in the second period when his right leg bent the wrong way on landing after a hit from Brooks Orpik.

Less than a minute later, a bench minor was called on the Leafs for having too many men on the ice.

The rookie trio of Matthews, Nylander and Zach Hyman proved nearly unstoppable in Game 3 - with more than 70 percent puck possession.

Hyman drew two defenders as he chased down a dump into the offensive zone and with a little extra room Matthews pulled the puck out and fed Nylander in front. The Capitals finished the period with only three shots at Andersen, almost scoring when Kuznetsov's shot hit the crossbar. Hyman played the familiar role of muscle, helping to set up a goal before drawing the Lars Eller high-sticking penalty which led to Tyler Bozak's overtime victor.

Ryan got free in the zone, tapping it in on assists by Kyle Turris and Erik Karlsson.

Mike Hoffman scored twice and Derick Brassard had a goal for Ottawa. The Eastern Conference series is tied 1-1 and Game 3 is Monday night in Boston.

This time Bruins rallied from a 3-0 deficit with three goals in second period, tying the game on a power play goal by David Pastrnak. In relief of Anaheim starting goalie John Gibson, Jonathan Bernier stopped all 16 shots he faced to pick up the win. A win in Game 4 would give them momentum and, more importantly, home ice advantage. "We had a nice power play to start this overtime and we want to go in with the attitude to get it done, even though the power-play hadn't been running well (it was about to go 0-for-3 when Bozak scored)". "And they're putting it in the trapezoid, they're sticking the puck to the boards, and then they're going on a heavy forecheck". Matthews broke his brief playoff dry spell with his two points and six shots (more than the first two games combined) while Nylander managed nine shot. A fair bit of their goals have been amusing bounces, off Brooks Orpik's trousers (Kadri's goal on Monday night) or Schmidt's face, but you know what, that's hockey. Hoffman controlled the puck and easily tapped it by Rask into the right corner of the net. And then Game 2 was a big confidence booster for us. He had to step in and play when Carlson was a scratch after taking part in warmups because of a lower-body injury and scored a goal in a 4-1 victory. Alzner spends over three minutes per game shorthanded.