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The Toronto Maple Leafs appear on a collision course and a rematch with the Florida Panthers following the events of the weekend. The Leafs pulled four points ahead of Tampa Bay in the race for third place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-2 win in Montreal and the Lightning’s 5-4 loss in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Florida lost 3-2 to Boston in overtime, giving the Bruins a five-point lead over the Panthers for top spot in the division with four games to go.
With six games to go and a game in hand on Tampa, the Leafs are likely to be focused on staying healthy over the next nine days and giving some of their key players rest for a game or two before what they hope is a long postseason stretch. The question is whether that will apply to Auston Matthews and his pursuit of 70 goals.
The likely three-time Rocket Richard winner is six goals short reaching the 70-goal mark for the first time in 31 years (Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne netted 76 in 1992-93).
“We all get to watch Auston every single day. We are often in awe of his ability to score and produce at such a high level. But he does so many other great things off the puck to defend quickly and get us back on offense to drive our team.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Saturday. “Now, more than ever, (after) having clinched a playoff spot and being able to narrow our focus even more on preparing for the playoffs, we want Auston to continue to drive our team to be ready for (the playoffs).”
The Leafs begin a busy stretch of four games this week against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. In a perfect world, Toronto would love to see Matthews get his six goals this week against the Penguins, New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings, with the final two games of the regular season on the road against the Panthers and Lightning.
Based on the way the games against the two Sunshine State combatants went last week, it is likely that both will be physical affairs, especially against Florida, who will be looking to give a couple bumps and bruises to the Leafs in advance of Game 1 of the first round.
Injuries may already be a factor. Former Leaf draft pick Carter Verhaeghe has been out ever since last Monday’s 6-4 loss to Toronto and is expected to not be back until the start of the postseason, along with defenseman Aaron Ekblad.
Toronto got forward Mitch Marner back on Saturday, and it is expected that defensemen Joel Edmundson, Timothy Liljegren and forward Calle Jarnkrok will make their return at some point over the next six games.
Ilya Samsonov will make the start against the Penguins, with Joseph Woll likely going in the second of back-to-back games against the Devils in Newark on Tuesday.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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