The Toronto Maple Leafs showed up to Raleigh amid a number of circumstances that would have had signs pointing to a scheduled loss. They immediately travelled south following a win on Saturday night followed by an early start the next day against a team known for playing a shutdown-branded style of hockey. But, much like we’ve seen this team lose entirely winnable games, they flipped the script and won an extremely loseable game this time around.
Despite some early domination by the Hurricanes, Joseph Woll matched Anthony Stolarz’s heroics and kept the Leafs in the game despite being outshot 11-4 in the first period. It was just long enough for Pontus Holmberg to open the scoring with 16 seconds left in the first frame, and from there, the Leafs found their legs and chipped away at the lead all game en route to a 4-1 victory. At the time of filing, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres are still in action, but a Sabres win in any fashion would clinch the Leafs first place in the Atlantic Division and lock in a first-round matchup with the Ottawa Senators.
Say what you want about certain areas of the Leafs that have raised some concern lately, whether that be their inconsistent bottom-six or their lack of scoring at 5-on-5. The Leafs have not been this close to clinching the Atlantic Division in the entire Auston Matthews era, so they have to be doing something right. Even if the advanced stats don’t always indicate that they’re playing well, they’re still finding a way to get two points, and that’s all that matters.
The Leafs have two games remaining in the season, with a road game against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday before closing out the regular season on Thursday and kicking off the playoffs on Saturday. With the potential of a Battle of Ontario first round looming, this season will offer a fresh perspective for a team that’s used to seeing either the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Boston Bruins in the first round. It will be a refreshing change, for both the fans and the team, and ideally, it leads to a fresh result.
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