The Ducks put Jonathan Bernier in net last night with John Gibson out with an injury.  He got it done and they won 5-3.  Backing him up was Jhonas Enroth, making his Ducks debut, and we can only hope Anaheim is grateful for these two bargain goalies the Leafs gave them.  Really grateful.

The Oilers took care of the Florida Panthers too by playing McDavid vs Barkov all night long.  That was a very fun game.

All of that means the Leafs are in third place with 67 points, three behind the Senators, who don’t seem to have any forwards left all in one piece. The Islanders have slid into the second wild card spot, something we all saw coming, and they are tied at 66 points with Florida and Boston.  The Flyers, the Lightning and the Sabres are not yet out of the race.

Tune in tomorrow when this will all be different.

PPP tells you the news

Dubas discusses firing of Toronto Marlies Assistant Coach Gord Dineen Suddenly yesterday, one of the few senior staff to survive the great firings of 2015 was let go.

Brooks Laich clears waivers, comes out for the second period In the same Marlies game, there was the end (perhaps) of the Brooks Laich saga.

So You Want To Spread Fake Trade Rumours If you have time on your hands, this primer will get you up to speed on how to be a rumour monger.  It is a how-to right?

WHW: INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION RAMPS UP Women all over the world playing hockey and heading for playoffs.

Other Leafs News

Maple Leafs' Marchenko to finally make his debut Toronto Sun

NHL Trade Rumour Roundup: Could Maple Leafs target Brendan Smith? It would be fun to have two Smiths everyone hates.

MACLEAN: DON’T KNOW HOW YOU CAN’T LIKE NYLANDER [Audio only] Really sensible discussion of Nylander and Rielly and Zaitsev. (I know, MacLean, but really it was good.)

Other Hockey News

Drake Berehowsky, coach of the Orlando Solar Bears is not well right now, and we wish him all the best. His team got a shutout for him last night, too.

It’s Go, Go, Go time!  Ottawa is looking for guys who aren’t broken.  Let’s hope they do something really smart.  And by smart I mean dumb of course.

In other fun news, the KHL playoffs started and Leafs prospect and recent retunee from IR, Yegor Korshkov scored the first goal for Lokomotiv. They play again today, so hopefully the European Report will be full of highlights on Sunday.

Other than that..oh, right. the Leafs play the Rangers.  Look for the preview this morning.

From The Branches