The countdown begins tonight. The Leafs have ten games left to play with the final regular season game on Wednesday April 17. Tonight the Leafs make a quick trip over the border to play the Buffalo Sabres.

Clinching a playoff spot will come soon, though not tonight as the Red Wings will still technically be in the race, even in the scenario where the Leafs win and the Wings lose. Either way, the playoff picture is becoming a little more clear now and a first round match up against either the Panthers or Bruins is most likely.

We'll have our preview of tonight's game out later this morning, though Keefe has confirmed that Ilya Samsonov will start in goal tonight. Mitch Marner participated in practice yesterday, but he will not play tonight.

The Marlies lost in Winnipeg yesterday after beating the Moose in OT back on Wednesday. Another split weekend leaves them still ranked at #4 in the North Division. They really need to hit the gas through their last few games to climb up to that #3 spot and avoid the play-in round, but if they have to do it, they would presently face the Laval Rocket for the best-of-three series. Their next game a Wednesday morning school day game here in Toronto against the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Florida Panthers affiliates.

ICYMI

The big news yesterday was the Leafs giving a three year contract extension to depth defenceman Simon Benoit. More on that here:

Leafs extend Simon Benoit
Three more years!
PPP LeafsCathy Squires

Other News

Speaking of the AHL here's the lowlight of last night where a B Senators player tips the puck into his own net.

Completely the opposite, in the ECHL we had a goalie goal.

And it was not a good Friday for Kaiden Guhle.

It's a busy NHL day with 30 of the 32 teams playing today, starting with the first game between the Panthers and Red Wings at 12:30 p.m.. Enjoy and I hope you are having a relaxing long weekend and enjoying some good food!

Rachel Roddy’s recipe for mushroom and taleggio lasagne | A kitchen in Rome
A cheesy, mushroomy five-layer lasagne that is both sumptuous and just plain satisfying
The GuardianRachel Roddy
From The Branches