Leafs Tank Tracker: The Leafs Huge Opportunity to Fall and Tonight's Action
Welcome back to the Tank Tracker. Let's get right down to business: last night's NHL scoreboard was a certified masterpiece for our lottery odds. The hockey gods finally delivered exactly what we needed to compress the basement.
Thanks to a couple of massive out-of-town results, we now have a huge opportunity to drop in the NHL standings. Both the Florida Panthers and the San Jose Sharks successfully secured points to hit exactly 65 points, perfectly matching the Maple Leafs.
With Toronto locked at 65 points, last night’s action the Leafs fell from 21st overall to 23rd overall. Here is the full breakdown of yesterday’s action and a look at today’s Tank Tracker:
Source: NHL League Page @ Elite Prospects
Yesterday’s Recap
Florida Panthers @ Detroit Red Wings
Result: Panthers win 3-1
Tank Impact: Flawless. Matthew Tkachuk buried a hat trick to secure two massive points for Florida on the road. The Panthers officially catch the Leafs, hitting 65 points and creating a massive logjam right in our Atlantic Division basement.
St. Louis Blues @ San Jose Sharks
Result: Blues win 3-2
Tank Impact: Incredible. San Jose took this to overtime, securing the highly valuable "loser point" to reach 65 points—meaning they also perfectly tied Toronto! St. Louis gets the win to hit 57 points, creeping closer to our danger zone floor but staying safely below it.
Montreal Canadiens @ Anaheim Ducks
Result: Ducks win 6-5 (Shootout)
Tank Impact: Great. Anaheim grabs the extra point in a wild shootout to push their total higher (73 points), continuing to safely remove themselves from the ceiling of our danger zone.
Carolina Hurricanes @ Edmonton Oilers
Result: Hurricanes win 6-3 (Regulation)
Tank Impact: Missed Opportunity. Edmonton dropped this one in regulation, staying stuck closer to the Leafs than we’d hope at 68 points instead of pulling away.
Tonight’s Tank Tracker
With Florida and San Jose now tied with us at 65 points, tonight’s action is incredibly tight. Here is your official Tank guide for Saturday's slate:
Tampa Bay Lightning (80P) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (65P)
Ideal Result: Lightning win in regulation, preferably in demoralizing fashion
Tank Impact: The most important game of the night. With the Panthers and Sharks tied with us at 65 points, the Leafs absolutely must secure zero points against Tampa Bay. A regulation loss keeps us anchored while the logjam shifts around us.
Nashville Predators (64P) @ Buffalo Sabres (76P)
Ideal Result: Predators win in any fashion
Tank Impact: Nashville is just one point behind us in the standings. If they take the two points in Buffalo tonight, they leapfrog the Leafs and successfully drop us deeper in the overall standings.
Montreal Canadiens (75P) @ Los Angeles Kings (64P)
Ideal Result: Kings win in any fashion
Tank Impact: The Kings are lurking right behind us in the standings. Grabbing two points on home ice pushes them ahead of the Leafs as well, potentially dropping Toronto even further.
New York Rangers (56P) @ New Jersey Devils (64P)
Ideal Result: Devils win in OT/SO
Tank Impact: The Devils sit currently one point behind the Leafs, so a victory tonight would help leapfrog the Leafs, giving an opportunity for the Leafs to fall 3 additional spots tonight.
Vancouver Canucks (45P) @ Winnipeg Jets (60P)
Ideal Result: Jets win in any fashion
Tank Impact: As much as we’d love to see the Canucks gain a point, they’re likely the only team officially locked into their current draft position, with almost zero chance to catch the Leafs. Instead, we will hope the Jets continue their winning ways closing the gap to just 3 points.
Washington Capitals (69P) @ Boston Bruins (73P)
Ideal Result: Capitals win in regulation.
Tank Impact: A regulation win against a powerhouse Boston squad secures them two massive points, pushing the Caps to 71 points. That effectively removes them from our immediate danger zone entirely and ensures they can't slide backward into Toronto's territory.
Philadelphia Flyers (67P) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (75P)
Ideal Result: Flyers win in regulation.
Tank Impact: The Flyers are currently sitting at 67 points, giving them a two-point buffer over the Leafs. We need them to keep their foot on the gas. A win in the battle of Pennsylvania bumps Philly to 69 points, creating that buffer and pushing them out of direct competition with the Leafs.
Toronto has a huge opportunity tonight to fall from 23rd overall all the way down to 26th, a perfect night would go a long way to helping the Leafs retain their own 1st round draft pick this season.