Mike Babcock's postgame remarks following Leafs Game 3 win over Capitals

Ovechkin was chased down by Mitch Marner on his breakaway late in the first OT, and Andersen was able to deflect the puck just wide of the post. Brian Boyle's 102 career playoff games, far more than the overwhelming majority of his teammates, proved to be invaluable experience as he made a handsome play to set up Kasperi Kapanen for the double-overtime victor. 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. "Obviously I'm not trying to hurt anybody out there, but a clean hit is a clean hit and they are doing the exact same thing to us". "It's not David and Goliath". "They've been great for us all series, not just on the score sheet but getting under the opponent's skin and playing against the top line every night". "We can enjoy tonight but we still got a lot of work to do".

"You never want to see someone go down like that", Matthews said. "It's no different than what they went through the other night". "In the series, they've had opportunities and they've cashed in".

All three games have gone to overtime. That's why Toronto's win was so important.

It's not a shock to skeptics of the Capitals' postseason chances, but it is a promising revelation for a core that finally got some scoring out of Auston Matthews on Monday.

Gaining some steam from that bit of special teams superiority, the Leafs pulled back within one when Kadri fired through traffic from the point to beat Holtby.

For the Capitals, whose ghosts of the past are still hanging around and haunting the team, there is a chance that the opposite might occur. While the team scored 250 goals on the year, they also allowed 234 against, good for 2.85 goals against per game and 22nd in the National Hockey League.

Pick me up: Throughout the season, Toronto has been bailed out time and again by the sensational play of Andersen, and if not for his 47-save performance with their banged-up blue line on Saturday they wouldn't be leading this series at all.

The Capitals won't have shutdown defenseman Karl Alzner, missing his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury, a significant blow to their depth and penalty killing even though Nate Schmidt brings an offensive spark. They had it printed on the back of their team shirts before the season.

Dennis Rasmussen and Patrick Kane each scored the first goals this series for the Western Conference's No. 1 seed. That's the same Nashville team that finished with 15 fewer points than Chicago, by the way.

"It's always hard to come back (because of the) speed of the games", Zaitsev said. It wasn't fun to watch, standing from behind the bench.

So after three games instead of the Leafs needing to shut down the Capitals stars to have any hope of competing, it's the Capitals who need to find an answer for the Leafs youngsters and their seemingly boundless energy. Toronto barely made the playoffs, but they've put the Capitals on the ropes at times, jamming up passing lanes, forcing turnovers, and creating breakaways by flying past Capitals defenders - somewhat reminiscent what the Pittsburgh Penguins did to the Caps on their way to the Stanley Cup previous year.

They killed off a two-minute 5-on-3 and put Alex Ovechkin and the Presidents Trophy winners behind the 8-ball in a series that Capscoach Barry Trotz called all-out “David vs. Goliath”.

What happens if Frederik Andersen stands on his head again or if Ovechkin can not punch through Toronto's threadbare defence?

Who will be the hero in Game 3?

When does doubt - real doubt - start to creep in?

"I think we've proven to everybody that we can play with these guys", Leafs fourth liner Kasperi Kapanen said.

Columbus, with good reason, expects him to be a difference-maker for a lot of years. "There's a lot of belief in our room".

Game 3 will be the first playoff game in Toronto since May 12, 2013, when the Maple Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 in Game 6 of their first-round series.