Toronto Maple Leafs pound Carolina Hurricanes, remain in 1st place in Atlantic Division

The Toronto Maple Leafs pounded the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Sunday evening at PNC Arena. With the win, the Leafs remained in first place in the Atlantic Division and locked up home-ice advantage throughout the first two rounds of the 2025 NHL playoffs.

The usual suspects got on the board, with captain Auston Matthews scoring his 31st of the season. The goal was Matthews’ 399th career tally, moving him one closer to his milestone 400th career goal.

Here’s a look at the tally:

The give-and-go between Matthews and Morgan Rielly left the Hurricanes trying to adjust but to no avail. The goal opened up a 2-0 lead in the second period.

William Nylander got on the board, scoring his 45th of the season early in the third period. The goal continues to add to Nylander’s career-high goal total this year. Let’s have a look:

Nylander came off the bench and jumped straight into the play. The Leafs’ solid forechecking led to an intercepted pass by Simon Benoit, who then got the puck to Max Domi on the far-right side.

Then, Nylander moved right to the front of the net, with Domi hitting a shot-pass right on the tape to Nylander. The tip-in worked and got the Leafs up 3-0.

Lastly, John Tavares continued his resurgent season, notching his 38th, on another nifty assist from Max Domi. Here it is:

Domi took a shot, picked up his own rebound, and got the puck back to Tavares who completely fooled former teammate Frederik Andersen. The lucky-bounce goal put the kibosh on the game.

All told, the Leafs had a fantastic game. Morgan Rielly racked up three assists on the night, with Domi collecting a pair. Pontus Holmberg had the other goal for the Leafs, as he matched last year’s career highs.

The Leafs played a great game in the second leg of their weekend back-to-back set, showing no signs of fatigue. Most importantly, the Leafs look to close out the season on a winning streak. Last year, Toronto backed into the playoffs riding a four-game losing streak.

That won’t be the case this season as the club looks to be rolling, getting plenty of depth scoring at the right time.

Toronto Maple Leafs must wait one more game to clinch 1st place

The Toronto Maple Leafs entered Sunday’s action with a chance to clinch first place in the Atlantic Division. However, the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-4 in their game on Sunday, keeping pace with the Leafs.

At this point, the Bolts can tie the Leafs at 104 points in the standings. The problem lies in that the Lightning could technically take over first place if they have fewer regulation losses. If that’s the case, the Leafs could still fall to second, facing the Florida Panthers in the first round.

So, all the Toronto Maple Leafs need to do is win their upcoming game against the Sabres on Tuesday night at the KeyBank Arena. That’s it. Win, and the Leafs get first place locked up. With the win, it wouldn’t matter what the Lightning did in their game against the Florida Panthers.

With first place still on the line, it’s likely we see most, if not the full Leafs lineup against the Sabres. Craig Berube won’t be taking any chances against the Sabres. Once first place is in the bag, most of the regulars can get a break for the team’s regular-season finale against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.