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.
Mitch Marner taking part in practice for the first time since suffering a high ankle sprain on March 7
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 29, 2024
Sheldon Keefe mentioned that was the plan earlier this week @TSN_Edge @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/KUA1SpV3G6
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:
Cathy 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.
Laval leads 1-0 thanks to an incredible own goal by the Senators pic.twitter.com/5qwxlqP0aX
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) March 29, 2024
Completely the opposite, in the ECHL we had a goalie goal.
WHAT A WAY TO END THE NIGHT WITH A GOALIE GOAL BY OSKARI SALMINEN AND A PLAYOFF SPOT 😁@NorfolkAdmirals pic.twitter.com/9txTgBmGQ6
— ECHL (@ECHL) March 30, 2024
And it was not a good Friday for Kaiden Guhle.
Montreal’s Kaiden Guhle has been suspended for one game for slashing Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny. https://t.co/GQYelVtEo5
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) March 29, 2024
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
