The elder Nylander has three games remaining with the Maple Leafs after Monday’s tilt against the visiting Panthers, meaning, barring anything unforeseen, the Leafs’ eighth overall draft pick last summer will have played 23 regular-season games in the National Hockey League as an 19-year-old rookie.
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While the Leafs were losing for the third straight game, and for the fifth time in their last six games, Gauthier did a notable job against the high-octane Panthers line that had combined for seven points against Montreal Saturday.
Soshnikov scored two goals and three assists in 11 games for the Leafs, but has been out since March 19 with an upper body injury.
Toronto has had a very tough season and head into the offseason with plenty of work to do as they continue to add pieces to their young core and move aside some aging parts that will likely be on the way out. “I felt good. I think I needed to do that a lot earlier in the year”, Foligno told the team’s official website.
“I like our team and I think coaches comment around the league that we’re a good hockey team”, Panthers coach Gerrard Gallant said Monday morning.
“It is a great accomplishment, for sure”, Jagr said.
Toronto clawed back in the third frame. Al Montoya made 22 saves for his 12th win of the season. Several Panthers, like Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Barkov are all well on their way to setting personal bests and the Cats have clinched home ice for the 1st round of the playoffs.
John Tavares got his 30th goal and two assists as the New York Islanders scored three times in a 5 minute, 15 second span to get a crucial 5-2 victory over Tampa Bay.
Huberdeau had just four goals in the first 39 games by January 5, when Jagr predicted he’d score 20 in the new year. “That led to momentum, and in the end, it got us in a bad spot”.
Colin Greening scored twice for Toronto (28-40-11), which made it 3-2 in the third period after falling behind 3-0 in the second. A center corps of Kadri, William Nylander, Tyler Bozak and Gauthier would represent a strong base for the team’s rebuild. He stuffed home the rebound after Bernier stopped a slap s by defenseman Aaron Ekblad. The right-shooting Grimaldi broke in on the left wing and snapped a high shot past Bernier to the far side of the net.
Grimaldi scored his second goal of the game and his third of the season on another shot from the left faceoff circle at 13:11 of the second, and the Panthers led 3-0.
“I thought our first period was good and our third period was good; I didn’t think some of our veteran people were almost competitive enough”, Babcock said.
“I see it more now playing with him”, said Brooks Laich, who came from Washington before the trade deadline. “I’m happy that things have worked out. We have to do it without him, but we are looking forward to getting him back”. It’s hard to believe you’re in the last week of the season and you’re not preparing for the playoffs…. He is that WHL team’s all-time leading scorer (120 goals, 239 points).
Meanwhile, the Leafs recalled forward Rich Clune ahead of Monday’s game to fill a hole left following Nazem Kadri’s suspension.
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The teams have split two games with Toronto looking to take two of three in the series for a second straight season. The Panthers did not play Sunday but clinched a playoff spot when the Boston Bruins lost to the Chicago Blackhawks…. If they can take at least two of the final three games on the season they will obliterate those records.
