The Toronto Maple Leafs embark on a three-game Western Canada road swing against the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday. The contest is a meeting between two of the three NHL clubs with 40 or more wins this season.
The Flames have a three-point lead on San Jose for top spot in the Pacific Division and home-ice advantage throughout the Western Conference Playoffs, while the Leafs trail the red-hot Boston Bruins in the race for second place in the Atlantic.
Boston has not lost in regulation since before the All-Star break (12-0-4) and lead Toronto by three points, and if you look at the breakdown of their remaining games, they are remarkably similar in home/away breakdown and strength of schedule.
Bruins schedule
17 games (7 home - CAR, FLA, OTT, CLB, NYR, FLA, TB, 10 away - PIT, CLB, WPG, NYI, NJD, FLA, TB, DET, CLB, MIN)
Games against teams not in the playoff race - 7
Leafs schedule
17 games (7 home - TB, CHI, PHI, NYR, FLA, CAR, TB, 10 away - CGY, VAN, EDM, OTT, NSH, BUF, PHI, OTT, NYI, MTL)
Games against teams not in the playoff race - 7
Both clubs have 17 games remaining, with seven at home and 10 on the road. The Bruins began a four-game homestand on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over New Jersey and face Carolina, Florida and New Jersey this week, while Toronto plays the Flames, Vancouver and Edmonton.
If Toronto can maintain the current distance of three points through this week, they could be well positioned to gain ground on Boston with four of their 14 remaining games at TD Garden in the final month.
The two clubs also have an equally difficult schedule going down the stretch. Both play seven games against teams well out of the playoff race (Florida, Ottawa, Buffalo, NY Rangers, New Jersey, Detroit, Chicago and Edmonton), while the Bruins play slightly more games (6) against teams fighting for a playoff spot (Columbus, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Vancouver) than the Leafs (4).
In the end, the determining factor will be whether Boston can remain as hot as they’ve been since mid-January and if they don’t, can the Leafs gain ground on them with an injury-depleted defense corps and playing Frederik Andersen in every game except on back-to-back nights.
Andersen, who made 31 saves for his 31st victory of the season against Buffalo on Saturday, is expected to get the start in goal for Toronto, while it is likely that Bill Peters will go to David Rittich after Mike Smith allowed four goals on 23 shots in a 4-2 loss to Minnesota on Saturday.
Tyler Ennis will replace Nic Petan in the Toronto lineup and Nazem Kadri travelled with the club, but it is unknown when the injured center will be cleared to get back in action.
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