The Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated from the play-off race as early as 2 April, while the Washington Capitals remain in contention; they must win all four remaining games, and even that would not guarantee qualification.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Pressure has eased on the Maple Leafs. Their performances this season have shown this generation are not ready to compete for the Stanley Cup. They paid a high price for losing Mitch Marner before the season to create salary-cap room. In practice, William Nylander alone (73 points in 60 games) could not carry them, and when Auston Matthews, who had not been particularly impressive this season anyway, was injured in mid-March after the trade deadline, the situation became clear. John Tavares is working hard now, but his seven points in the last three games of the California road trip have not made much difference: the hosts won only one game (7:6 OT).
Washington Capitals
The Capitals continue to fight for the final wild-card spot in the East, which is currently held by the Ottawa Senators, but they are five points behind. Even if they win all four games, they will finish on 95 points. Last season in the Metropolitan Division that would have been enough, but now the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are fourth in the division and also outside the play-offs, already have 90. The pace of the Capitals is respectable (6:3:1), but they sometimes suffer heavy defeats in unexpected places — 3:7 against the New Jersey Devils and 1:8 against the New York Rangers, who are already out of the play-offs. While Alexander Ovechkin has gone three games without a goal, Pierre-Luc Dubois, who had been injured for a long time, has come to life with eight points in four games.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Washington Capitals Prediction
Defence is the main weakness of the Maple Leafs this season (3.52 goals conceded on average): they are in the bottom five of the league. Even the Capitals, who are themselves inconsistent at times, are capable of beating them, especially given that the hosts have had problems at home all season (18 wins in 38 games).
