Can the Toronto Maple Leafs Feast on the NHL East?
Well it may not have been a pretty third-period but the Toronto Maple Leafs held on for a 3-1 win Saturday night against the New York Islanders and a home crowd that delivers more boos than an LCBO transit truck.
As bad as the game’s third-period possession numbers look for the Toronto Maple Leafs; however, the team did a solid job of limiting quality chances and scoring attempts and were able to come out with a valuable, hard-earned road win, buoyed by a dominant second-period that really showed how strong this Leafs team can be (how good does that third-line look??!).
The Leafs have 53 points and sit at an impressive 25-10-3. They are top-ten overall in just about every statistical category (all stats are from hockey-reference.com) but still can only claim the number 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, though they have about three games in hand, on average, on every team ahead of them. Six of the NHL’s seven best teams are from the Eastern Conference.
Yea, the East looks pretty darn good this year.
So in light of that, here is a breakdown of the Toronto Maple Leafs Eastern Conference competition and potential playoff meeting prediction:
Toronto Maple Leafs Eastern Conference Rivals
Boston Bruins (50 points)
Contrary to my outlook, the Ullmark-Swayman duo in net looks pretty solid. And for further insurance, Tuukka Rask was recently re-signed for one year at $1M. The Marchand-Pastrnak-Bergeron combination has done the most damage though. Brad Marchand has an absurd 20 goals in 33 games, David Pastrnak is on pace to score 41 and Patrice Bergeron continues to be an absolute all-around beast.
But the production quickly tapers off beyond these three and I still wonder about the center position after Bergeron.
Playoff Prediction: Leafs finally put the Bruins to ruins and take it in 5 (hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?)
Washington Capitals (55 points)
How good is Alex Ovechkin? At 36 years-old he’s still lighting the league on fire. Through 42 contests he has 29 goals and 58 points; tying him for the NHL lead on both fronts. Oh, and only 7 of those goals are PPG. Scary.
What else is scary is the fact that Washington is right at the bottom of the league in PP%. Once they get that sorted (and are able to ice a team featuring a healthy Nicklas Backstrom, T.J Oshie and Anthony Mantha) watch out!
Playoff Prediction: Tom Wilson decapitates half of the Leafs squad (and still gets less games than Kadri) on route to a Capitals-in-6 series win
Pittsburgh Penguins (55 points)
Talk about depth. The Penguins currently have 11 players who have scored six or more goals this season (and that excludes Evgeni Malkin, who has only suited up in a half-dozen games). Tristan Jarry is playing his best hockey as a Penguin (.928 SV%, 3SO) and Kris Letang is nearly at a point-per-game pace (35 points in 36 games).
I have found myself picking Pittsburgh in my playoff pools the last few years, thinking they are being underrated, but this team could potentially do some damage this year, particularly if they stay healthy.
Playoff Prediction: Crosby plows through the Leafs like a Zamboni through a Tim Hortons drive-thru. Penguins in 6
Carolina Hurricanes (56 points)
Another team with some serious depth, the Hurricanes are top-ten in GF and top-five in GA, PP% and PK%. I don’t really see any weaknesses here. Other than the quality of depth, the Canes have scoring, grit, experience, can win faceoffs on every line and possess a top-notch defense core.
Seth Jarvis, the 2020 1st-round-pick (courtesy of our own Toronto Maple Leafs) has impressed with 8 goals and 17 points in 29 games, or, rather, tied for 1st in goals and 4th in scoring on the Montreal Canadiens. You’re welcome, Carolina. Oh, yea, congrats on Frederick Andersen too.
Playoff Prediction: Leafs take advantage of Freddy “game-seven sieve” Andersen and pull this series out in 7
New York Rangers (58 points)
I guess the 2019-2020 compound-V supply (gratuitous and unsubstantiated ‘The Boys’ reference alert) finally switched from Mika Zibanejad’s locker to Chris Kreider’s. As the former’s goal-scoring prowess continues its nearly 50% drop over the past two years, the latter has already eclipsed his season-best goal output, with 40 games to spare. But it’s the Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin show in NY right now. Fox, with 45 points, sits first in NHL scoring for defensemen and will battle Victor Hedman, Roman Josi and Cale Makar for the Norris. Shesterkin (19-4) leads the league with a .936 SV% and is a Vezina finalist.
The teams prospects haven’t yet turned the corner but when they do this team will be a force.
Playoff Prediction: Shersterkin needs more playoff work in. I’ll stick with my core beliefs and take Keefe’s Leafs. Toronto in 6
Tampa Bay Lightning (61 points)
Despite watching their third-line evaporate in the off-season, Tampa Bay still has some potent producers on this team. Currently six players have scored in double-digits and that doesn’t include star forward Nikita Kucherov’s 5 goals and 17 points in 11 games. Like Carolina, the reigning Cup champs are very well-rounded with few, if any, weaknesses.
Playoff Prediction: Corey Perry doesn’t lazily pretend to avoid a collision and a healthy Toronto Maple Leafs squad gives Tampa fits for most of the series but the superior Lightning win in 6
Florida Panthers (61 points)
The number-one team in the NHL (and also number-one in goal-differential), Florida Panthers sport seven players in double-digit scoring and have four more players with seven or more goals. 8th leading goal-scorer Anton Lundell would be the sole leader in goals for Montreal while fringe Panthers Frank Vatrano and Eetu Luostarinen would be tied for the Montreal lead. This team can flat out score.
Sergei Bobrovsky (.925 SV%) is rejuvenated but will it last? Spencer Knight doesn’t appear ready to take over the reins yet so that’s the only potential flaw I can see.
Checking In on the Pre-Season Predictions. dark. Next
Playoff Prediction: Unfortunately, because the NHL is the NHL, we inexplicably haven’t been able to see a Leafs-Panthers matchup and won’t until the end of March, despite both teams being in the same division. But regular season results are usually moot (right, 2000-2001 Ottawa Senators?) so I will predict a hard-fought seven-game series that comes down to Bobrovsky vs. Campbell. I’ll take a whack at Jack- Leafs in 7