Maple Leafs Beat Blues + Perfect Without Rielly + 100% Playoff Guarantee
The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues for the second time in a week yesterday in an afternoon Holiday tilt.
The victory, the Toronto Maple Leafs fourth in a row, continued their perfect record without the suspended Morgan Rielly (though be wary of anyone trying to suggest they are better without him).
In fact, it was the Leafs fifth win in six games, and eighth win in their last ten games.
And of course Auston Matthews scored again, which was his 11th goal in his last 8, or his seventh goal in his last three. Matthews also has 35 goals in his last 33 games as he tries for his second 50 goals in 50 games achievement of his career.
Maple Leafs Beat Blues + Perfect Without Rielly + 100% Playoff Guarantee
For Matthews, it was his 49th of the season as he moves firmly into first place in the Hart Trophy conversation (no one is close, as Matthews brings nearly elite defense on top of a historical scoring pace).
Besides Matthews, Timothy Liljegren is looking good playing an elevated position in the lineup. While both Bobby McMann and Matthew Knies seem to be taking the next steps in their development.
Everyone is talking about the Leafs record without Rielly, but the real story is a trio of former prospects finally taking a big step.
The Leafs recent run has also brought up something long thought impossible: winning the Atlantic Division. The Bruins - not close to the team they are portraying in the results this year - lost four in a row and then had to go to overtime yesterday to avoid a fifth straight loss.
The Panthers caught them and are only a point back, while the Leafs have two games in hand. Should the Leafs win those they would only be five points back. That's only 2.5 games out of the division lead with 28 games to go.
The Toronto Maple Leafs aren't even that good of a team, but they have a much better core than Boston or Florida, so with some reinforcements *(hopefully sooner than later) they could, at least potentially, make up the difference.
Winning the Atlantic probably means having to play Philadelphia or Detroit in the first round instead of Boston or Florida, not to mention the advantages of having home-ice.
IMO Brad Treliving is being way too patient, which is compounding the problems he created with his incredibly bad debut performance as the Leafs GM this past summer, but somehow he's gotten so lucky that the Leafs are in a position to make everyone forget how bad he's been to date.
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That said, it's winning aside, it's pretty dumb that Ryan Reeves is still on the team and that they haven't brought in a goalie. I don't care how good Samsonov plays, I wouldn't have him anywhere near the playoff roster.