Leafs’ final three games provide no time for rest
Franchise record for points would tie nice, neat bow on superb regular season
A franchise record for points is what remains for the Toronto Maple Leafs to accomplish in the final three games of the 2017-18 regular season.
And if the Leafs are going to set a mark with 104 points — they’re at 101, two back of the team record of 103, heading into their home game against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night — coach Mike Babcock’s wish might be that they do so honestly. “These games are important for us because the reality is, we’re probably not starting (the playoffs) until Thursday (April 12),” said Babcock, who gave his players Easter Sunday off. “There’s lots of time to hang around. We’ve got lots of (down time coming), so let’s keep playing hard.”
No matter whether the Leafs will be visiting the Boston Bruins or the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, Game 1 of their first round will not be on April 11, the night the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs start. The Boston Celtics have a home game that night at TD Garden and down at Amalie Arena in Tampa, the venue is booked for a Lorde concert. In the Sabres, the Leafs face a club that took advantage of a major penalty to Scott Hartnell of the Nashville Predators on Saturday night, scoring three goals on the way to beating the top team in the National Hockey League 7-4. The seven goals were the most the Sabres have scored in any game this season. Though the Sabres appear destined to finish last overall, expect the Leafs to be met with the kind of resistance on Monday befitting a playoff-bound team. If the Sabres — who don’t take games off against Toronto — beat the Leafs, they will have recorded their third win in four games between the teams in the past four weeks.
In other words, the Sabres on paper are not good, but they’re the kind of feisty opponent Babcock wants his Leafs to play in one of their final tune-ups for the post-season.
The Leafs will visit the New Jersey Devils, who seemingly will sew up the final wild-card
There’s lots of time to hang around. We’ve got lots of (down time coming), so let’s keep playing hard.
spot in the Eastern Conference, on Thursday and finish the regular season on Saturday at home against the Montreal Canadiens. One decision for Babcock will be how much rest, if any, his top players get. While it has been decided that goalie Frederik Andersen will not play on Monday but will get the last two starts, Babcock was not yet sure what he was going to do with “the rest of the crew.” Other than avoiding the risk of injury, there’s no benefit to giving any of his star players a game off. They’re going to have five days between the regularseason finale and the playoff opener, which would be more than enough of a break.