Leafs look to move up playoff pile
EASTERN RACE: Avoiding conference’s last wild-card spot would help Toronto dodge matchup with Capitals
TORONTO — Win and you’re in.
For Christian Hanson’s sake, what those 10 Toronto Maple Leaf teams that played 82-game schedules and missed the playoffs since 2004 would’ve given for the chance coach Mike Babcock’s club has Thursday. Beat the Tampa Bay Lightning and they qualify for the first time since the lockout-shortened season of 2013.
It would mean a city in thrall with its hockey team again, a perfect 100th anniversary present two years into the Shanaplan, not to mention a few million in long-awaited playoff revenue for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
But the moment an ‘X’ is affixed to Toronto in the standings — whether it be Thursday or after one of the weekend games against Pittsburgh or Columbus — will not be enough to satiate these Leafs. Babcock, a Stanley Cup and Olympic champion, has taught this team to think and play big, even if their ranks include seven rookies some nights.
With potential for as much as a 30-point improvement over last season, the Leafs can still attain homeice advantage in the first round. Getting slapped around Tuesday by the Washington Capitals, a team vying for the Presidents’ Trophy and ultimately the Stanley Cup, was a sober reminder the Leafs should take advantage of these last three home games and get what should be a favourable matchup.
“The path of least resistance is something to shoot for,” defenceman Connor Carrick said after getting spanked 4-1 by Washington. “You want to gain home ice and match up who you play best against.”
That could be Boston or the injury riddled Ottawa Senators — if the Leafs can elevate themselves from wild-card status. On the flip side, they could play one of those clubs and open on the road. But stay put and they go head-to-head with Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. If it’s the latter scenario, Carrick says the Leafs will just have to adapt.
“We’re going to have to go through a good team at some point,” he said. “You want home ice and climb up the standings as best you can, just from a gratification standpoint. If you’re a better team, you’re pushing your shoulders back at this time of year, you want to be finishing strong.
“It’s the Stanley Cup playoffs, anything can happen. We’ve seen eighth seeds win and vice versa.”
There have also been major upsets at the finish line, a hope the Bolts and New York Islanders are clinging to. Without Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan for chunks of this season and having traded a character player such as Brian Boyle to the Leafs, plucky Tampa Bay has still made it this far, though a 4-0 loss in Boston means they need three wins and a lot of help.
“We’re not out of it yet,” defenceman Victor Hedman told the Tampa Bay Times. “It’s obviously a tough hill to climb and we need a lot of things to go our way.”
Those are the same comments uttered so many times by the desperate Leafs throughout the years, praying for a train wreck ahead of them in the standings that never came. Now they’re a point or two from changing the usual narrative in town at this time of year: The draft lottery or who’s going to the world championship. They’ll still be playing after the Jays’ home opener and they get to tussle with the Raptors for Air Canada Centre availability.
“It’s good to play meaningful games for growth, for learning,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly. “The most important part is that we’re here, we’re right in it and we have a lot of confidence in our group. We’re looking to make the push here, not just to get in the playoffs, but to win some games and get a good feeling going.”