A good look at the current playoff race, via Damian Echevarrieta, vice president of Player Safety and Hockey Operations (@Ech28).
The Leafs path to the playoffs will either be through the 3rd spot in the Atlantic or through the 2nd Wild Card spot. If they get into the Atlantic spot they'll play whoever finishes 2nd between Montreal and Ottawa. If they go through the Wild Card it's whoever finishes 1st between Washington/Pittsburgh/Columbus. Obviously going through the Atlantic would be the preferred option as it would also give us an easier 2nd round opponent should we make it that far. One thing to keep in mind though: Boston will almost certainly have the tie-breaker between us so we would need to pass them outright in points.
The Leafs remanining schedule looks pretty promising, right up until that final week when we play 5 games in 7 days. Obviously, trying to bank points prior to that will be very important. The Leafs, Islanders, and Lightning all play 7 games in their final 11 days of the season though so all 3 teams will be on even ground there.
), and then Monday against BOS is YUGE.
