So the official preview tells us that the Lightning have lost 5 straight games and are basically the Leafs' play thing. The buds have a great record in Florida (can't be bothered to find it but it's ridiculously good) and we can probably chalk that up to the lack of pressure that Leafs teams feel when they are in Florida.
Lack of pressure helps to explain why they have won 5 of their last 6 and are 11-5-1 in their last 17. That is 23 points in 17 games. Think about that record for a second and then extrapolate those numbers over an 82 game season. What kind of points total do you think that pace would equate to? 90 points? 100? Would you believe that 11-5-1 averages out to a 110-point pace over an entire season. So there is a good hockey team in there somewhere, albeit in spurts, and fate definitely has a way of handing the team lemons which they the suck on sourly instead of finding some sugar to make lemonade. Look at how three women were able to wreak havoc on the Leafs' season.
But that's all woulda, coulda, shoulda and in the past. Tonight, the Leafs get a chance at once more ruining their draft position in their futile attempt to sneak into the playoffs to meet a New Jersey Devils team that was once the Leafs' biggest bugaboo. One problem for the Leafs is that the Bolts have a real goalie now so there won't be anymore gift goals. Brad Richards is gone so there are only two players that need to be shut down but there won't be any repeat of the shootout heroics from Wednesday since Jussi Jokinen will be lining up against the Leafs.
Remember your SPG guesses in the comments and try to guess how short this ill-conceived and not at all valiant quest will fall.
How far will the Leafs finish out of the playoffs?
| Out on a tiebreaker | 3 |
| 1-3 points | 10 |
| 4-7 points | 11 |
| 8-10 points | 1 |
| 11-20 points | 2 |