For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
The Toronto Maple Leafs were lauded last week for bouncing back after five consecutive losses with three wins over non-playoff teams in Detroit, Philadelphia and Carolina.
After a 7-2 thrashing at the hands of the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, the Leafs begin a four-game stretch against clubs in playoff spots that will go far in determining their place in the race, as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.
The Lightning jumped past Toronto into the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 overtime win in Ottawa on Tuesday and are a red-hot 12-3-3 since February 1, in spite of losing Tyler Johnson and Vladislav Namestnikov to injuries and trading away Valterri Filppula, Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle before the trade deadline.
The no-show against Florida may very well be a blip on the Leafs radar, but their difficult schedule over the last 14 games appears to give them the toughest road to the make post-season.
Toronto’s opposition has a .581 point percentage, as they play four of the NHL’s top five clubs (Washington, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Chicago) five times.
Tampa has the easiest schedule remaining, with their opposition at .554. The Islanders opposition (who are tied with Tampa at 77 points) is at .560 and Philadelphia (72 points, four behind the Leafs) is at .572.
After Thursday’s contest, Toronto plays the Western Conference leading Blackhawks at Air Canada Center on Saturday, the red-hot Boston Bruins on Monday and travel to face the Blue Jackets on Wednesday.
Opposition point % for the rest of the season:Boston - .583…….……..12 games left (3rd place in Atlantic) Tampa Bay - .554……..13 games left (2nd wildcard in Eastern Conf) NY Islanders - . 560…..13 games left Toronto - .581………….14 games left Philadelphia - .572……13 games left Florida - .588……..……14 games left
Mike Babcock went back to the same forward line combinations used against the Panthers at the morning skate on Thursday.
Connor Brown lined up with Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman, and William Nylander skate on the right side with Leo Komarov and Nazem Kadri. Where the Leafs head coach made changes were with his defensive pairings, Alexey Marchenko was paired with Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev stayed on the second pairing with Jake Gardiner.
Injuries to Namestnikov, Johnson and Steven Stamkos not ready to return has John Cooper using some familiar names at center. Byron Froese (traded to the Lightning last month in the deal for Brian Boyle) and Greg McKegg (traded two years ago to Florida for the rights to Zach Hyman) will be playing third-and-fourth line center for Tampa, while rookies Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde play between top line wingers Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn and Jonathan Drouin.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (6-0-1 with a .958 save percentage in his last seven starts) will be in goal for the Lightning, while Frederik Andersen goes for Toronto.
*******
The signing of U.S. College free agents are going at a fairly brisk pace this week, the most prominent being the Pittsburgh Penguins signing of Hobey Baker Award finalist Zach Aston-Reese of Northeastern to an entry-level deal.
Two of the other nine finalists that could be on the Maple Leafs radar this summer are University of Denver blueliner Will Butcher and Harvard center Alex Kerfoot.
Both are seniors drafted by NHL clubs (Butcher was a 2013 selection of the Colorado Avalanche, Kerfoot was chosen by New Jersey in 2012), which means if they do not sign with those clubs by August 15, they become unrestricted free agents.
Toronto has had success in signing players out of Denver. The 22-year-old 5’10…, 200 lb defenseman played three seasons with Marlies forward Trevor Moore, who signed with the Leafs last summer and veteran Tyler Bozak is a Pioneers alum.
Kerfoot is a native of Vancouver (his father is owner of the MLS Whitecaps) selected by Lou Lamoriello during his tenure in New Jersey and succeeded 2016 Hobey Baker winner and former linemate Jimmy Vesey as the Crimson’s captain.
The Leafs could have interest in the 22-year-old center (who has 16 goals and 24 assists in 31 games), as they have a need to add organizational depth up the middle.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.******* KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.