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The Toronto Maple Leafs have the same amount of points entering the second half of the 2017-18 regular season as they did at the halfway mark 12 months ago, but the club is in a much more comfortable position in the Eastern Conference playoff race this time around.
Toronto has 48 points (23-16-2) with the addition of veterans Dominic Moore, Patrick Marleau and Ron Hainsey and more stable backup goaltending with Curtis McElhinney, but this season has had to deal with the absence of Auston Matthews for 10 games and the losses of Nazem Kadri and Nikita Zaitsev to injury.
While the Leafs had the benefit of Matthews for every game, rookies Mitch Marner and William Nylander not struggling at times with sophomore slumps, and Tyler Bozak and Jake Gardiner having career years, they are in a much more favorable position for a playoff spot because more than half the teams in the Atlantic Division have crumbled or are in chaos.
2017 Atlantic Division after 41 games Montreal…..60 pts Boston………51 pts Toronto…….48 pts Ottawa……..48 pts Florida………48 pts Tampa………44 pts Detroit……..42 pts Buffalo……..41 pts
2018 Atlantic Division after 41 games Tampa………60 pts Boston………50 pts Toronto…….48 pts Florida………39 pts Detroit………39 pts Montreal…..36 pts Ottawa……..33 pts Buffalo……..29 pts
Toronto currently has a nine-point advantage over the Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings, a 12-point gap over Montreal, 15 points up on Ottawa and 19 points in front of the Buffalo Sabres, who all have less points than the Philadelphia Flyers, who are last in the Metropolitan Division.
The Red Wings, Canadiens, Senators and Sabres all seem headed on a path to deal pending unrestricted free agents (Mike Green, Evander Kane) or core players to shake up their roster (Mike Hoffman and Max Pacioretty) and position themselves for better odds at winning the draft lottery before the February 26 trade deadline.
Florida appears to be the only team that could challenge the Leafs for third place and they are relying on James Reimer to carry the load with Roberto Luongo out injured. It may be only necessary for the Leafs to match their first half record and get to 95 or 96 points to gain entry to the post-season for the second straight year.
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The Leafs will dress the same lineup for the second game of their six-game homestand against the San Jose Sharks at Air Canada Centre.
Frederik Andersen will make his third straight start and it is expected that Martin Jones will go for the Sharks, who are currently in third place in the Pacific Division with 46 points.
Frederik Gauthier will remain on the fourth line with Matt Martin and Connor Brown in place of veteran Dominic Moore and Josh Leivo and Martin Marincin are also healthy scratches.
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The Leafs two prospects participating in the 2018 World Junior will face each other on Thursday for a chance to play for the gold medal in Buffalo on Friday.
2017 top pick Timothy Liljegren and goalie prospect Joseph Woll will be in the 4pm start at Key Bank Center, as Team USA faces Sweden, while Team Canada will take on the Czech Republic at 8pm.
Great pad save by Joe Woll to preserve the USA lead pic.twitter.com/gOgTnWsKFn
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 3, 2018
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