Montreal and Toronto finish their regular seasons at the ACC on Saturday (7 p.m., CBC, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio), and both want a win, writes Pat Hickey.
Something to play for: After a disappointing loss to New Jersey Thursday night, the Leafs will be looking for a win that will provide momentum going into the playoffs and allow them to finish the season with a franchise-record 105 points. As for the Canadiens, the result will impact their final standing and draft prospects. They could finish as high as 26th and as low as 30th. Price in the spotlight: Carey Price will start in goal and he should be motivated to finish the season on a high note after the worst campaign of his career. While his teammates continue to describe Price as the best goaltender in the world, he has been anything but with a 1625-7 record, which means he has lost twice as many games as he has won. He has a 3.09 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. Hot hands: Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk are the Canadiens’ top scorers going into the season finale and they have both been productive down the stretch. Gallagher scored his 31st goal Thursday and has five goals and four assists in his last eight games. Galchenyuk, who has 51 points to trail Gallagher by two, was shut out in Detroit, but he has three goals and three assists over the past six games. He’s looking for his 20th goal.
Firepower to spare: The Maple Leafs have the fifth-most productive offence in the NHL, averaging 3.28 goals a game. Mitch Marner is the team’s leading scorer with 22 goals and 69 points, but only because injuries have limited Auston Matthews to 61 games. Matthews has 33 goals and 61 points. James Van Riemsdyk, who is looking to strike it rich as a UFA in July, is the top goal-scorer with 36 and Nazem Kadri has 31.
The weak link: It’s a good thing the Leafs can score because their goaltending tends to be spotty. Frederik Andersen is tied for fourth in the NHL in wins (37) and in shutouts (five) but the rest of his numbers are ordinary. He has a 2.82 goalsagainst average and a .917 save percentage, and the league average is 2.78 and .912. Those numbers might be a problem in the playoffs when goals become scarce.