Leafs Are Playoff Bound

 

 

After having a few days from their two-game sweep in Winnipeg the Toronto Maple Leafs would travel to Montreal to clash with their rivals the Montreal Canadiens. This matchup carried some importance too it as with a regulation victory the Maple Leafs would guarantee themselves a spot in the post season. In the last three meetings between these two historic clubs the Canadiens had opened the scoring each time on their first shot of the game but this time around thing would be different. Early in the contest the Leafs would head to the powerplay as Tyler Toffoli would be called for tripping, and with Toronto’s struggles on the man advantage as a fan you really don’t expect much from the team but in the last few games despite not scoring the last few attempts on the power play had looked decent and last night thanks to the powerplay the visiting Leafs would open the scoring as Mitch Marner would assist on William Nylander’s 15^th goal of the year allowing Marner to hit the 60 point mark for the fifth consecutive season. With Toronto ahead 1-0 they would keep the pressure on and really would not look back. After killing off a tripping penalty of their own the division leading Leafs would double their lead thanks to sharpshooter Auston Matthews who would take the puck away from Montreal’s Nick Suzuki and Matthews would send the puck ringing off the post and into the net for the 35^th time adding to his league leading total. On this goal Nick Foligno would collect his third assist in three consecutive games and even though it is a small sample size I think it is safe to say Nick Foligno is embracing his opportunity with the Leafs team and is fitting in well. The clock would hit zero and after 20 minutes of play Toronto would hold a 2-0 lead.

The middle frame would see Montreal outshoot their rivals as they looked to get back into the contest but Jack Campbell and his strong play in the Leafs goal would keep Montreal searching for their first goal of the contest. Despite failing to score on their second powerplay advantage momentum would still be with the visitors and Toronto would add to their lead as Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton would assist Jake Muzzin who scored just his 3^rd goal of the season after his point shot would deflect off a Montreal forward and passed Montreal starter Jake Allen. With the assists by Thornton and Spezza some more history was made as Jumbo Joe would collect his 1100^th career and Jason Spezza with his assist would tie Montreal legend Maurice Richard in career points. With Toronto now leading by a score of 3-0 thanks to Muzzin’s early goal Toronto remained in complete control however Montreal would finally get on the scoreboard as Nick Suzuki would skate down the right wing with all kinds of space and Suzuki would fire a wrist shot passed Toronto’s Jack Campbell for his 10^th goal of this campaign to make the score 3-1 cutting the Leafs lead to two.

The Leafs would be holding a 3-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation and Toronto expected the host Canadiens to go all out with the hopes of getting back into this matchup but thanks to some strong defensive play by the Leafs they were able to keep Montreal from building momentum. With the game entirely in Toronto’s favour things would go from bad to worse for Montreal as Jake Allen would leave his net to play a puck that was dumped in by Toronto’s Justin Holl. Unfortunately for Montreal Jake Allen would fan on the dump in and Adam Brooks who had recently taken Pierre Engvall’s spot in the lineup would slide the lose puck into a wide-open cage for his 3^rd goal of the season giving Toronto a well deserved 4-1 lead putting the game completely out of reach for the Montreal Canadiens who currently hold a 6-point lead on the final North Division playoff spot.

The Maple Leafs would coast to victory as the remaining third period minutes would expire giving Toronto a convincing victory and clinching a playoff spot meaning they will make their fifth consecutive playoff appearance coincidentally coming as Toronto collected their 67^th point in the standings. It is also worth noting that this win also marked their fifth win in a single season against Montreal the last time this happened was in 1967 and we as Leaf fans all know how that 67’ season would end so hopefully this was a sign off things to come. The Leafs now have a quick turnaround as they head home to host The Vancouver Canucks who also are on night to of a back-to-back after losing to Ottawa last night.