WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals have a chance to advance to the second round of the playoffs if they can defeat the Maple Leafs in Toronto Sunday night.
Washington, the Presidents’ Trophy winners, leads this close best of seven series 3-2, scoring 16 goals in the series, one more than Toronto.
Both teams share the count in shots with 175.
The Leafs are the second wild card team in the Eastern Conference.
The Caps — who received a scare when star Alex Ovechkin who took a scary hit on the left leg in Friday’s game 5 victory — should be fine for game 6.
“(Ovie) will be good to go for game 6, this after Ovechkin was re-evaluated Saturday morning,” Coach Barry Trots reassured fans in a conference call Saturday afternoon.
Trotz also updated the status of defenseman Karl Alzner, who’s missed the last three games with an undisclosed “upper body injury.”
He said Alzner is “day to day and improving.”
The Caps Iron Man had not missed a game with the team since a 2010 playoff loss when he was out game 6 against Montreal.
Alzner had also played in 599 straight games before being scratched for game 3 of the series with the Leafs.
Trotz was asked about Tom Wilson, who took four penalties in Friday’s game 5 win: “We’ll tighten Tom up and get him in the right frame of mind and he’ll be good to go tomorrow (Sunday).”
The Capitals have had a tough time wrapping up game 6’s. Since 2010, the team is 1-5 when trying to advance.
Should the Caps win, they will face rival Pittsburgh.
Both teams faced each other in last season’s playoffs, with the Penguins beating Washington in the second round.
The NHL announced Sunday that if a game 7 is needed for this series, it would start at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25.
