With first place in the Atlantic Division assured, the Toronto Maple Leafs might be looking past the visiting Detroit Red Wings, their opponent on Thursday in the regular-season finale.
The Maple Leafs (51-26-4, 106 points) know they will be playing the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs in a renewal of the “Battle of Ontario.”
Toronto clinched the division title with a 4-0 road victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday and will have home-ice advantage through the first two playoff rounds, if they advance.
“It’s massive for us,” Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz said. “You get that last change. You get that Game 7 home ice. It’s quite an accomplishment for this group, and we’re super excited about it.”
The Red Wings (39-35-7, 85 points) entered their 5-2 road win over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday knowing that they had been eliminated from playoff contention.
They will enter the season finale on a three-game winning streak.
“There’s always someone watching, something to play for, play for yourself,” Detroit defenseman Albert Johansson. “We just want to continue to play good hockey and have good habits.”
The Maple Leafs have won four in a row after defeating Buffalo in a game that also featured several milestones.
Mitchell Marner scored his 27th goal of the season to give him a career-best 100 points for the campaign.
“You know, those accomplishments don’t happen by yourself,” Marner said. “Credit to a lot of guys in that locker room that have helped me out and supported me through this year and have made some unbelievable plays for me and have put in my passes. So, I think the really cool thing is just the excitement from the guys for that point.”
Marner is the fourth Maple Leafs player — for a total of seven times — to reach 100 points in a season. Auston Matthews got the assist on Marner’s goal.
“Great play by Matthews to make that pass,” Marner said. “He’s a pretty special player. Been lucky enough to do this with him for nine years.”
Matthews scored into an empty net, his 32nd goal of the season and the 400th of his career. He is the second player to reach that plateau in team history. Mats Sundin scored 420 goals as a Maple Leaf.
Matthews has played 628 games to become the sixth-fastest player to reach 400 goals.
“It means a lot,” Matthews said. “It’s a team accomplishment. This group has been really supportive. Individual awards are nice. It’s nice to check off certain things, but the focus is on the team and to continue to put our best foot forward.”
Dylan Larkin reached 30 goals for the fourth consecutive season for Detroit on Wednesday and added an assist on Alex DeBrincat’s 38th goal.
Todd McLellan took over for Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26 as the Red Wings’ coach, and there has been a period of adjustment. Even so, Detroit is 26-18-3 under McLellan.
“Learning the players and what makes them tick and form that respect,” McLellan said. “Looking back, how aggressive we were with some individuals, maybe that was too aggressive right off the bat because we didn’t know them real well. Maybe other guys needed a little more squeeze or a kick, if you will. Now, you kind of know a little better, but that took some time.”
–Field Level Media
