After two days of relative rest and relaxation in sunny Florida following his club clinching a berth in the post-season, Leafs coach Randy Carlyle poked and prodded his charges in Tampa Tuesday morning in hopes of avoiding any complacency.
Carlyle commented that while he may give key players like Dion Phaneuf or Phil Kessel less ice time, he will continue to play his regular lineup until the result of the games have no bearing on where the Leafs end up in the standings.
The chances of Toronto finishing in 5th spot in the Eastern Conference improved dramatically with Tuesday’s results around the league and open up the realistic possibility of finishing 4th, giving them home ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The New York Rangers lost any chance of overtaking the Leafs or finishing any higher than 7th after a 3-2 loss to bottom dwelling Florida, while the New York Islanders lost 4-3 to Carolina in a shootout.
The Isles were able to earn a point courtesy of John Tavares tying goal with 1:01 remaining in regulation and clinched their first playoff appearance since 2006-07, but trail Toronto by one point with two road games against Philadelphia and Buffalo remaining.
The Leafs first round opponent likely will be the runner up in the race for the Northeast Division, but neither Boston nor Montreal seems capable of stringing victories together to put the division away. The Bruins lost 5-2 in Philadelphia on Tuesday, due mostly to a lapse that allowed two Flyers goals seven seconds apart in the second period.
The Canadiens continue to struggle as they spotted New Jersey a 3-0 lead and fell short in their comeback, losing 3-2 in Newark. The loss was the fifth in the last six games for the Habs and they remain tied with Boston at 59 points, four points in front of the Leafs.
Boston appears to have the scheduling advantage to win the Northeast. They host slumping Tampa on Thursday, travel to Washington Saturday to face the Capitals who clinched the Southeast Division with a win over Winnipeg and end the season with the makeup game against Ottawa. Montreal has road games in Winnipeg on Thursday and the season finale in Toronto on Saturday night.
If Toronto wins over Tampa, that would move them three points in front of the Islanders and would all but guarantee fifth spot, but would also have to win against the Panthers on Thursday and hope that Montreal loses in Winnipeg to make the season finale consequential.
The Lightning continue to struggle, as they have lost six of their last seven under new coach Jon Cooper, but stars Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis still have personal milestones to achieve, which might be enough motivation to spur Tampa to victory. Stamkos has 28 goals, but trails Washington’s Alex Ovechkin by three in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy, while St. Louis is just one point behind the injured Sidney Crosby for the NHL scoring lead.
It is expected that Carlyle will split the goaltending duties on back to back nights, as has been his practice throughout the season. James Reimer will start in Tampa, while Ben Scrivens is the likely starter against the Panthers in Sunrise, FL on Thursday.
Ben Bishop, who was acquired from Ottawa on April 3rd, will make his ninth start for Tampa.
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