The Leafs are unique among current playoff teams for one very concerning reason
The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially reached the quarter mark of the season with last night's game against the Florida Panthers. It was their 11th win of the season, and kept them in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning and tied with the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings, however, hold down the third spot in the Atlantic division because of the first tie-breaker. That first tie-breaker is regulation wins.
Detroit is near the top of the NHL in regulation wins with 10 of their 11 wins on the season coming in regulation time. Surprisingly, the NHL is led by the Vancouver Canucks who have 14 regulation wins. To no one's surprise, every team currently in a playoff spot is in the top half of the league in terms of regulation wins, except for Toronto.
While the Leafs have 11 wins on the season, they have just five regulation wins through their first 20 games. Those five regulation wins have them tied with the Seattle Kraken, Minneosta Wild, Chicago Blackhaws and San Jose Sharks for second last in the NHL and only ahead of the Montreal Canadiens who have three.
On one hand, it is impressive that the Leafs are able to hold a playoff spot having just a handful of regulation wins, which means they have shown they are able to battle back, even after blowing leads, to secure an additional point. On the other hand, it shows just how bad they have been at closing out games in regulation. The Leafs have won just two games in regulation in November, but are still 6-3-1 this month after blowing leads against Chicago, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Calgary.
Although the Leafs are currently in a playoff spot, they are barely hanging on and if they continue to play like this, their season could come down to a tie-breaker. If they're unable to figure out how to close games out in regulation and start racking up the regulation wins, the Leafs could end up missing the playoffs all together, and if that happens, you can guarantee there will be chaos.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 29 | 657 ANSWERS The Leafs are unique among current playoff teams for one very concerning reason Will the Leafs make the playoffs this season? | ||
| Yes, it's pretty much a guarantee | 353 | 53.7 % |
| No, they definitely won't | 76 | 11.6 % |
| I'm not sure, which is scary | 228 | 34.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
