The Toronto Maple Leafs took the Columbus Blue Jackets playoff hopes and disrespected them thorgoughly on Saturday night.
The Blue Jackets came into the game needing a win to stay alive in a playoff race that is increasingly favoring the Montreal Canadiens, and the Toronto Maple Leafs laughed in their faces on the way to a 5-0 beatdown.
The Jackets are now six points back of Montreal with seven games to play. They were a nice story for a while, but they are all but done.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, meanwhile, are the NHL's second hottest team, after the St. Louis Blue who have won ten games in a row. No slouches, the Leafs have won four in a row and are 8-1-1 in their last ten games, where they have picked up 17 of a possible 20 points.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are the second hottest team in the NHL right now
The Toronto Maple Leafs might not have won ten straight, like their new coaches old team has, but they are still absolutely killing it right now.
The Leafs, faced with the toughest path to the playoffs possible, have played incredible down the stretch run and are now heavy favoritres to win the Atlantic Division.
The Leafs recieved two goals each from Nick Robertson and William Nylander, while Auston Matthews also scored and Anthony Stolarz picked up just his scond shutout of the season. Despite that, he's had the best season of any Leafs goalie in years, likely since Ed Belfour in 2004.
With the victory, the Leafs moved to four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lighting for first in the division. There are still six games for each team to play, but the Leafs are getting close to locking it down.
As for Florida, the Leafs victory coupled with yet another Florida loss has them sitting a full six points back. The maximum point total Florida can achieve is 104, so I believe any combo of Leafs victories or Florida losses that adds up to six points will eliminate them.
Don't look now, but the Senators are closer to the Panthers than the Panthers are to the Leafs.
With an 8-1-1 record in their last ten, and being on the verge of winning the Atlantic and with Mitch Marner playing like a Hart Trophy candidate and Anthony Stolarz looking like a top goalie, things are starting to get pretty exciting.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will begin the playoffs in just two weeks, and it's going to be the most exciting spring this city has seen in just about 60 years.