Maple Leafs vs. Capitals: Auston Matthews goes to Washington in highly anticipated Game 1

This is the big one, folks. No, it’s not the Stanley Cup Final just yet but we’ve got ourselves a David vs. Goliath match in the first round of the playoffs.

The Washington Capitals have all the pressure on them. They’re as deep as they’ve been in years and their path to the Stanley Cup has never been clearer. Except, they’ve got to get through the young and scrappy Toronto Maple Leafs lead by Calder favorite Auston Matthews.

Alex Ovechkin vs. Matthews. Nick Backstrom vs. Mitch Marner. Braden Holtby vs. Frederik Andersen. The star power will be out in Washington on Thursday.

The Capitals and Maple Leafs played just three times this season, but all were high-scoring affairs. Washington won the series 2-1, with the highlight being a 6-5 overtime victory in early January. Considering these teams boast pretty incredible offensive power, it’s no surprise at least one team scored four goals in each of the games.

Holtby and Andersen clearly have their work cut out for them.

Auston Matthews. All eyes are going to be on the 19-year-old as the Maple Leafs make their first playoff appearance since 2013. The rookie has 40 goals on the year and has been the beating heart of Toronto all season. How he matches up with the Capitals will be a big story to watch all series

Are the Capitals cool, calm, and collected at the start of their hopefully deep playoff run? Will the Maple Leafs kids have nervous energy and make mistakes like their equally young counterparts in Edmonton did last night? The emotion here is key, and whichever team can master theirs will come out on top.

The Maple Leafs. I wouldn’t be shocked if Toronto came out blazing on Thursday to throw the Capitals back on their heels. After all, the Maple Leafs have nothing to lose in this series.