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In the race for an Eastern Conference playoff spot, the difference between making and missing the postseason could come down to the points gained or lost in overtimes and shootouts.
The Toronto Maple Leafs earned a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, mostly due to the efforts of rookie sensation Auston Matthews, who scored his 29th and 30th goals of the season, tying Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine for the NHL rookie goal scoring lead.
Matthews had a breakaway early in overtime, but was thwarted by Carey Price, who deflected the rookie’s shot with his stick into the crowd.
“I saw the open corner and (Price) just got a stick on it.… Matthews said after the game. “I saw the opening, I shot it there and he just got a knob on it.…
Carey Price was pretty pumped about his OT save on Auston Matthews pic.twitter.com/GlctfqZFHx
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 26, 2017
Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk scored for Montreal in regulation and Andrew Shaw scored at 1:06 of the extra frame to give the Habs a sweep of the season series against Toronto and 14th win in a row over the Blue and White.
“I thought we played real good tonight, I thought Price made some real good saves on the one power play. I thought (Andersen) was good too. I thought we put a lot of pressure on Montreal at times. A tough mistake there at the end, but those are parts of life.… Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “All in all, it would have been really nice to get the extra point, especially at home, but we didn't.…
Alternate angle of Galchenyuk's goal. What a feed from Nesterov pic.twitter.com/5IVQh9SsKr
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) February 26, 2017
Tyler Bozak was a late scratch and replaced by Ben Smith, but the veteran center is not expected to miss the start of the club’s three-game California road swing in San Jose on Tuesday.
“We should have (Bozak) back, he just had a cut in his hand and got an infection. That should be cleaned up and he should be (ready).… Babcock said.
The Leafs coach also hopes to have winger Mitch Marner back in the lineup at some point during the road swing.
“You've got to give our trainers credit, both Mitch and I were bribing them today but they held strong. We were doing everything we could but I think they're going to let him out of jail here soon so that would be good for us.…
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Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported on HNIC’s Saturday Headlines that the Maple Leafs may have interest in a couple of Mike Babcock’s former players from Detroit.
The Red Wings are expected to be sellers before Wednesday’s trade deadline and Toronto reportedly may have interest in center Riley Sheahan and pending UFA defenseman Brendan Smith.
Sheahan, 25, scored a career-high 36 points in Babcock’s last season with Detroit and 14 goals last season, but has only nine assists in 58 games this season and has the worst plus/minus rating on the Wings with a -19.
Toronto has been looking to add a depth center and Sheahan has another year left at $2.075 Million, but the Wings could be looking for as much as a first round pick in return, which would seem to be too steep of a price.
Smith, 28, a pending unrestricted free agent, has just five points (two goals, three assists) this season and would be a costly rental based on the prices paid for defenseman Michael Stone and Ron Hainsey.
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