Toronto Maple Leafs Win Season Finale and Prepare for Playoffs

The Toronto Maple Leafs end their 2022-23 regular season on a high note with a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Next stop, round one of the NHL playoffs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs win over the Rangers helped them reach 50 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history. Thursday’s win was their first in Madison Square Garden since December 2019.

Fans did not get to see Auston Matthews score career goal number 300. Nor did they see Mitch Marner register his 100th point of the season. What fans did get to see was William Nylander scoring his 40th goal of the season. The first 40-goal season of his career. In fact, his 40 goals and 47 assists for 87 points are all new career highs.
(Stats from hockey-reference.com)

Thursday’s win over the Rangers improved Joseph Woll’s record this season to 6-1-0 with a 2.16 GAA and a .932 SV%. His overall NHL record is now 9-2-0 with a 2.38 GAA and a .924 SV%. He has a bright future ahead of him with numbers like that.

Toronto Maple Leafs Are Ready for Round One

As the Toronto Maple Leafs prepare for their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, many people question if this is the year that Toronto finally gets over the first-round hump? Are they better than one year ago? Yes, they are better than last season, but we’ll have to wait and see if it’s enough to make it out of the first round.

The Leafs will need their core of Matthews, Nylander, Marner, and John Tavares to lead the way. They need new guys like Ryan O’Reilly, Jake McCabe, and Luke Schenn to make an impact. Not to mention stellar goaltending from Ilya Samsonov.

The Core Four

Matthews did not score 50+ goals but still finished the season with 85 points, with the downgrade owing to playing through an injury for most of the season His defense is just as impressive as his offense. He finished with 92 blocked shots this season, the highest amongst all NHL forwards.

Nylander continues to improve as a player. He set new career highs in goals, assists, and points, but he’s also effective without the puck. Nylander finished the season with 70 takeaways compared to just 37 giveaways.

Mitch Marner scored 30 goals for the second time in his career and missed 100 points by one point. He is one of Toronto’s top penalty killers, finishing the season with four short-handed goals and 19 short-handed takeaways.

Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares finished the season with 80 points in 80 games. It’s his third season with 80 or more points since joining the team. He seemed to play with more of an edge this season, as he finished the season with 112 hits. The first time he has ever recorded 100 or more hits in his career.

The New Guys

Before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ryan O’Reilly had 19 points in 40 games for the St. Louis Blues. He recorded 11 points in 13 games for Toronto. He could be the difference-maker in round one for Toronto. O’Reilly knows what it takes to win, and he would love to win a championship in Toronto.

Noel Acciari finished the season with 244 hits which was 10th overall in the NHL. He had 76 hits in just 23 games with Toronto. The series against Tampa will be a physical one, and they will need Acciari to bring the boom.

Speaking of physical, the Toronto Maple Leafs added the NHL leader in hits Luke Schenn. He finished the season with 318 hits. The defenseman got into a fight with Tampa’s Pat Maroon on Tuesday. He will be looking to set the tone in Toronto’s favor when round one starts.

Jake McCabe has proven himself to be a steady top-four defenseman for Toronto. He averaged over 19 minutes a game and finished the season with 163 hits and 151 blocked shots. The Maple Leafs will rely on him heavily to keep Tampa’s players away from Samsonov’s crease.

Let’s Not Forget

Other players in the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup that can make an impact in the series against Tampa will be Calle Jarnkrok, Michael Bunting, and Alex Kerfoot.

Jarnkrok played well in Toronto’s top six and finished the season with 20 goals and 19 assists for 39 points in 73 games. Bunting had a bit of a drop-off in points from one year ago but still finished with 23 goals and 26 assists for 49 points. Kerfoot will be playing with a lot to prove. He was one of Toronto’s better playoff performers two years ago and will look to be once again this year.

Goaltending

The Tampa Bay Lightning have one of the best goaltenders in the world in Andrei Vasilevskiy. He alone can be a deciding factor for the Lightning. He finished the season with a 34-22-4 record with a 2.65 GAA and a .915 SV% with four shutouts.

Toronto will need the very best that Ilya Samsonov has to offer if they’re to beat Tampa. Samsonov finished the season with a 27-10-5 record with four shutouts, a 2.33 GAA, and a .919 SV%.