The likelihood of the Toronto Maple Leafs making the post-season increased slightly on Friday, but the nerve-racking practice of keeping a watchful eye on the out-of-town scoreboard will only be a necessity if the Leafs continue their winning streak in the home regular season finale against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
Toronto has bounced back from the catastrophic eight game losing streak with two straight wins over Calgary and Boston and face the Jets, who are 12th in the Western Conference with 78 points and have been mathematically eliminated from earning a playoff spot.
The Leafs received positive news on Friday, as Ben Smith’s goal with three seconds left in regulation gave the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 victory over the Blue Jackets in Columbus. In Newark, Ryan Carter scored for the Devils with 4:54 left in third period to give New Jersey a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals. The only negative result was a 3-2 win for the red-hot Detroit Red Wings over the Buffalo Sabres at Joe Louis Arena.
According to SportsClubStats.com, the odds of Toronto making the playoffs went up to 12.14% with the results on Friday and would increase to 18.3% if they can defeat Winnipeg.
Detroit maintains a four-point lead on the Leafs, Columbus leads by one point for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot, while New Jersey and Washington trail by two and three points respectively. All clubs have a game in hand on Toronto.
Matchups to watch tonight will be the Red Wings visiting the Bell Centre to take on the Montreal Canadiens, the Capitals playing the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum and the Devils traveling to Raleigh to take on the Hurricanes.
Columbus will play their third game in four nights on Sunday at home against the Islanders.
The Leafs will attempt to make up ground in the final four games of the season without goaltender Jonathan Bernier, as an MRI revealed an MCL strain that will keep him out a minimum of three weeks.
James Reimer received an ovation from the ACC crowd when he entered the game for the injured Bernier midway through the third period and on Thursday and stopped 10 of 11 shots in just under 15 minutes of regulation and overtime.
Marlies veteran goalie Drew MacIntyre was emergency recalled on Friday to backup Reimer, who will make his 30th start of the season against the Jets. The Morweena, MB native has a 3-2-1 career record against Winnipeg, with a 2.87 GAA and .909 save percentage.
Winger Joffrey Lupul took to the ice for the second straight day at Air Canada Center Saturday morning after being a late scratch on Thursday due to an undisclosed a lower body injury. Head coach Randy Carlyle stated after the 4-3 overtime victory on Thursday that Lupul was doubtful to be in the lineup against Winnipeg Jets, but updated his status to a game-time decision after the morning skate.
The status of Dave Bolland is also in question, as the center did not take the optional skate at the MasterCard Center on Friday or at the ACC Saturday morning. Bolland played 13:18 against Boston and depending on his status, it could mean increased ice time for Nazem Kadri, who played just 11:40 and scored the winning goal in overtime.
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