The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 7-3 in an endlessly entertaining game on Saturday night.
It was the first time in years that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens met in a regular season game that mattered to both teams, and this old-school rivalry did not disappoint.
With the victory, the Leafs maintain their lead in the race for the Atlantic Division title, and now have a 29-16-2 record which is three points better than the Florida Panthers at this time.
The Leafs are currently nine and ten points up on the two wildcard teams, which right now are Columbus and Ottawa.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, First Place, the Scoring Race and the Standings
The Leafs, despite a dip in their goaltending, have used a penchent for destroying the NHL's worst teams to maintain their hold on first place in the Atlantic.
They are far out of first place in the East, however. The Capitals have a seven point lead on the Maple Leafs and a game in hand. The win against Montreal was pretty important actually because it opened up a 12 point lead over the Habs when otherwise it would have been just eight.
Washington leads the NHL overall, but they are just one point up on the Jets. The Leafs are 5th by points and 6th by points-percentage.
The Leafs have three games this week. They will play Tampa tonight, the Blue Jackets Wednesday and the Senators on Saturday.
Who knows, by next week they might even have Anthony Stolarz and John Tavares back, though that is likely optimistic.
When it comes to the scoring race, Nathan MacKinnon is still way out in front. He has 73 points and a four point lead on likely MVP Leon Draisaitl. Mitch Marner is 5th in points, sitting nine back. It will take just one casual Darryl Sittler- like 10 point game to get him back in the race, and I say he can do it.
Draisaitl leads the NHL with 33 goals right now, and William Nylander is tied for second with four other players with 27 goals. A recent cold streak saw Nylander fall off the pace, but he's got 3 goals in his last two games, and four in his last six after going eight games without scoring earlier in the month.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a good spot, but if they really want to show they are serious about winning the Atlantic Division, they should be making a trade sooner than later because their centre-ice situation remains a joke.