David, meet Goliath.
The National Hockey League’s regular season has come to a close and the Stanley Cup playoff bracket is now set in stone.
The top team in the land, the President’s Trophy-winning Washington Capitals, will square off against the last club to punch its ticket to the post-season, the upstart Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs made the playoffs after a heart-stopping, nail-biting victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre.
Connor Brown’s game-winning goal in the third period, deflecting the puck from a Jake Gardiner shot from the point, was reminiscent of Nikolai Borschevky’s Game 7 series-winning goal against the Detroit Red Wings in 1992/93.
Good times.
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However, the Buds could have avoided a first-round date with the high-octane Caps by earning one point Sunday night versus the Columbus Blue Jackets.
But Toronto blew a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 to Columbus.
So instead of renewing the long hibernated Battle of Ontario against the Ottawa Senators in the opening round of the playoffs, the Maple Leafs draw Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals.
In the NHL’s version of the Hunger Games, the odds are not in Toronto’s favour.
The Leafs have little to no playoff experience in their lineup, they have injury concerns in net and on defence, and they are playing against, perhaps, the most complete team in the league.
We all know the David vs. Goliath story.
But history will not repeat itself in the Leafs-Capitals first-round playoff affair because Goliath would have won a Best of 7 series against David.
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