Well, that wasn't pretty. I was in a bar in Brooklyn last night drinking Weihanstephaner hefeweizen and enjoying the afterglow of the Sox game yesterday when I realized it was 8pm and I should check the Leafs score. "2-0 eh? That blows."
The Leafs got into penalty trouble last night and paid for it. Three Montreal power play goals to Toronto's zero isn't a great recipe for success.
The "glass is half full" view is this:
24 |  | NE | 79 | 32 | 34 | 13 | 77 | ||||||
| 25 |  | PAC | 78 | 32 | 35 | 11 | 75 | ||||||
| 26 |  | PAC | 79 | 34 | 38 | 7 | 75 | ||||||
| 27 |  | SE | 78 | 34 | 38 | 6 | 74 | ||||||
| 28 |  | SE | 79 | 24 | 37 | 18 | 66 | ||||||
| 29 |  | NW | 77 | 31 | 44 | 2 | 64 | ||||||
| 30 |  | ATL | 78 | 26 | 43 | 9 | 61 |
The Leafs are 2 pts ahead of LA, who have a game in hand, and 2 pts ahead of Phoenix who don't. The Leafs are 3 pts ahead of Atlanta as well, meaning that with a crummy week for Toronto and decent weeks for those three teams, the Leafs could be drafting in a lottery spot, thanks to their crummy performances against Philly and Montreal this weekend.
| Leafs | @ Devils | Sabres | Senators | |
| Kings | @ Flames | @ Oilers | @ Canucks | Sharks |
| Coyotes | Blues | @ Sharks | Ducks | |
| Thrashers | @ Capitals | Capitals | Panthers | Lightning |
The Kings have an absolutely brutal schedule, although the Flames have been shaky lately and maybe the Canucks and Sharks will have let off the gas by then. The Thrashers have two games against Washington who they play pretty well since they're divisional foes, and that juicy game against the Lightning where they could pick up two free points.
It's going to come down to the wire, but it looks like the Leafs might still squeak out a lottery pick. By the way, check out that Colorado tank job. How'd they get all the way down to 29th? If they lose out, they could finish below the Islanders. That's nuts.
