Forward Connor Brown scored a heart-stopping goal in the final minutes against the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday night, securing a 5-3 victory for the team – and a coveted playoff spot.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are going back to the playoffs.
Brayden Point scored two goals and the Lightning beat the Maple Leafs 4-1 on Thursday night.
The math is simple for the Leafs: Gain one point against Columbus and the first-round opponent will be the Ottawa Senators; fail to gain a point and the club will meet the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the first round. Despite the four goals, Andersen had made enough saves to hold Toronto in the game. And, even though the Toronto Maple Leafs are the last team to clinch, they don’t necessarily have to finish in a wild card position.
Had the Leafs earned just one point, they would have finished in third place in the Atlantic Division and squared off with the rival Ottawa Senators in the opening round.
Andersen was visibly shaken up on the play, and left to be seen by doctors as part of the concussion protocol.
The Leafs are going to the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and Babcock stressed in the morning that it was because of a full team effort.
We’ll have a ton of posts over the next few days breaking down the Leafs chances against the Capitals, the postseason as a whole and more, so until then enjoy the sublime feeling of seeing the Leafs in the playoffs.
Babcock did not want to discuss what he told his youngsters but he did have an opinion on how they could lessen their anxiety – avoid the sports media.
The roster has been turned over nearly entirely too with the club also sporting a new logo and uniforms this season.
At about this point past year, Leo Komarov had his bags packed and a plane ticket home to Finland nearly ready to go, with his Toronto Maple Leafs wrapping up a 30th-place season. Boyle also showed well at 75 percent, his third-highest total since joining the Maple Leafs.
He batted a puck out of the air near the blue line, tracked it, maneuvered around Justin Schultz and beat Marc-Andre Fleury from the slot.
Connor Brown scored the game-winner on a deflection at 17:12 after former Penguin Kasperi Kapanen picked up his first National Hockey League goal at 14:30 courtesy of a no-look pass from Matt Hunwick.
The only other mystery for the Maple Leafs is the status of their starting goaltender Frederik Andersen, who left the game Saturday early in the second period after being knocked to the ice by Tom Sestito.
Two weeks ago in Buffalo, Andersen was forced to the leave a game against the Sabres with an upper-body injury. Toronto handily won the possession battle with Columbus (at almost 55 per cent) and it’s because of those crucial wins by Bozak they were able to sustain pressure at the end and preserve any hope of tallying a tying goal.
The Maple Leafs with a lineup filled with talented rookies, are ahead of schedule by making the playoffs this season.
But whatever momentum Toronto gained was dashed when the Penguins scored on a power play of their own, Crosby notching his NHL-leading 44th goal of the year. The goal gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead early in the third period. He set a Leafs rookie record for minutes this season.
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Brown got the victor when he tipped a Jake Gardiner shot past Marc-Andre Fleury, with Nazem Kadri screening the goalie.
