The Leafs' schedule coming off of the bye week provides an excellent opportunity to rack up some major points
Coming into the 2022-23 season, there were a lot of concerns about this year's Toronto Maple Leafs team and rightfully so. Their goaltending department had just received a huge overhaul and they had replaced both their starter and their backup with wildly inconsistent goaltenders in Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov. However, looking back on the team's performance through 52 games, the Buds have surprised a lot of people. Sure, they're prone to their odd loss to a weaker opponent, but they've largely played up to their top-tier opponents as well.
The Buds currently sit 2nd in the Atlantic Division and 3rd in the overall league standings with 70 points on the year. The Leafs are absolutely a top team in the league and while the Bruins are not likely to be caught, the Leafs are still within striking distance of Carolina for 2nd overall, which would solidify home ice in every single series, save the one they may have to play against Boston.
Thankfully, the Leafs have a very light schedule coming out of the All-Star break and bye week. When the Leafs come out of their extended break, they'll have matchups awaiting them against Columbus (x2), Chicago (x2) and Montreal (x1). For context, the Blue Jackets and Blackhawks make up the two worst teams in the league, with the 26th place Canadiens not far behind.
Given the fact that the Leafs entered the break fresh off of a loss to the Bruins, hopefully they come back hungry and determined to make a strong push. They do have a pair of back-to-backs scheduled in those first 5 games back, with travel. First they'll be in Columbus on Feb 10th and then back in Toronto to host those same Blue Jackets on Feb 11th. To close out that 5-game stretch, they'll host Montreal on Feb 18th and then travel to Chicago on Feb 19th. They'll have another matchup against the Hawks sandwiched between their pair of back-to-backs, on Feb 15th.
This SHOULD be a 5-0-0 run, but we all know that with this Leafs team, anything is possible. There's no question though.. adding 10 points to their total coming out of the break would be massive, building some momentum leading into the home stretch.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 5 | 1623 ANSWERS The Leafs' schedule coming off of the bye week provides an excellent opportunity to rack up some major points How many points will the Leafs earn on their upcoming 5-game stretch coming out of their bye week? | ||
| 4 points or less | 137 | 8.4 % |
| 5-7 points | 653 | 40.2 % |
| 8-9 points | 662 | 40.8 % |
| All 10 points | 171 | 10.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
