The Toronto Maple Leafs have a long way to go before they can make plans for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the club’s recent win streak after the trade deadline and it coinciding with the Florida Panthers recent floundering has given the Leafs a bit of a cushion and an opportunity to look at who they might face in a potential first round matchup.
After a 5-3 victory in Sunrise on Thursday, Toronto won 4-2 over Vancouver on Saturday for their third straight victory, while the Panthers followed up with a 3-2 shootout loss to Chicago on Saturday and a 3-0 shutout defeat to the Calgary Flames 3-0 on Sunday.
Florida now trails Toronto by five points for third place in the Atlantic (both clubs have 16 games left), with the Panthers playing Boston and Montreal at home, while the Leafs head to California for games against the non-playoff Sharks, Kings and Ducks. If Florida turns in around and gains ground, Toronto would still be in the mix for one of the two Eastern Conference wildcard spots (as they are tied with the NY Islanders and Columbus at 78 points), but with just over a month left in the regular season, it appears that the Leafs are on a collision course with the Lightning.
The #leafs have nine defencemen on the ice for practice in San Jose, including Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci. pic.twitter.com/zqGYmmnrFW
Boston thus far has withstood Tampa Bay’s recent charge, leading the Lightning by seven points in the race for the Atlantic Division and President’s Trophy with 94 points. Both clubs loaded up at the deadline for a long postseason runs, with the Bruins adding forwards Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie from Anaheim and Tampa Bay trading first round picks to acquire Blake Coleman from New Jersey and Barclay Goodrow from San Jose.
The Leafs would be a decided underdog in another first-round meeting against the Bruins, based on their contrasting styles of play and the psychological advantage Boston holds after Toronto coming up short in 2013, 2018 and 2019. While Tampa Bay is a juggernaut, they still have the damage of losing to Columbus hanging over them and are dealing with injuries to veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh and team captain Steven Stamkos.
McDonagh is expected to return well in advance of the playoffs, but Stamkos aggravated a core muscle injury last Tuesday and his recovery time after surgery is expected to be six-to-eight weeks, which would put the Markham, ON native’s return during or after the first round.
Toronto will be an underdog against both the Bruins and Lightning, especially if their injured blueliners are not at full strength in time for the playoffs, but the Leafs ability to play the same high-flying speed game that Tampa Bay does potentially gives them a puncher’s chance at an upset.
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