The Toronto Maple Leafs have just one more hurdle to jump before embarking on what they hope will be a long postseason, as they complete their 56-game regular season with a reschedule game against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell MTS Centre. The game has no consequence for either squad, as the Leafs clinched top spot in the North last week and the Jets locked up third place with a win over Vancouver earlier this week.
The mindset of both clubs will clearly be focused on their upcoming postseason opponents. For the Jets, a first round series against the Edmonton Oilers and the long awaited contest with the Montreal Canadiens for the Leafs, and with that in mind the hope for both former Leaf head coach Paul Maurice and current Toronto bench boss Sheldon Keefe will be to just get through the game unscathed.
“There is almost (and) this is going to sound terrible for hockey - a gentleman’s agreement.” Maurice said. “I don’t think you’re going to see any late hits. Both teams are getting ready. There will be a certain amount of respect on the ice."
After giving Frederik Andersen his first start in nearly two months in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday, the Leafs will go back to Jack Campbell in the final game of the season, since Toronto will have a five-day layoff between tonight and Game 1 vs. Montreal next Thursday. Winnipeg will follow that plan as well, going with Connor Hellebuyck in goal.
"You're keep trying to keep the team focused. You know you want to finish the season strong. They know what's around the corner and what's at stake." Keefe said on Friday morning. "You've got to play 56 games, there's 56 on the schedule, so we're here tonight and there's a list of things you want to make sure that you have (done) in the game. The most important one for all of us is to just get through it healthy and feel good about ourselves when we leave here, and the reality is we will feel good when we leave here because you've completed part of the journey and you've earned the right to continue on past today. Not every team in the league has done that, but we've earned the right to push on beyond today and we're excited about that."
The Leafs will make only one lineup change, since their roster is limited by all of their cap machinations to get Andersen under the cap. Adam Brooks will play in his hometown of Winnipeg in place of Mitch Marner, who played all 55 games an led Toronto forwards in average time on ice with 22:26 per game.
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