The Toronto Maple Leafs took the ice at Amalie Arena on Wednesday with no serious ambitions beyond putting the finishing touch on a significant milestone.
While their final game of the regular season had no implications for playoff seeding, the team had 60 minutes to help Auston Matthews reach the 70-goal mark. Whether the team won or lost wasn’t overly important, particularly considering a number of players were resting or nursing injuries before a postseason push.
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That situation made for a strange combination of low and high stakes. Matthews was fighting for a historic accomplishment he may never be able to achieve again while most of his teammates were simply hoping to get through the contest unscathed.
All of that resulted in a 6-4 loss where the Tampa Bay Lightning succeeded in their own milestone chase as Nikita Kucherov earned his 100th assist of the season.
Three stars
1. Ryan Reaves
Any game Reaves scores on a one-timer, he’s a pretty safe bet for a mention here — particularly if the rest of the team turns in a rough performance.
RYAN REAVES 🚨
Gave the Lighting top line a minus pic.twitter.com/Gc2Bj4ew5o
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 17, 2024
While that effort won’t be confused for a vintage Alex Ovechkin blast, it did the job. It also came as the result of some strong forechecking in the offensive zone with Reaves leading the way.
The Maple Leafs’ fourth line did an effective job of grinding down the Lightning, and the veteran played a significant role in that. His unit alongside Connor Dewar and David Kämpf outshot Tampa Bay 4-2 in 8:37 at five-on-five and held its own in the expected goal battle (50.54 percent).
2. T.J. Brodie
This is a tough one because Brodie prevented the Maple Leafs from earning a late-game power play that might’ve helped Matthews seal the deal.
At the same time, he did that by scoring his first goal since Dec. 31, 2022 — a game started by Matt Murray that featured goals by Michael Bunting and Pierre Engvall.
T.J. Brodie scores on the delayed penalty pic.twitter.com/761CGL37ff
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 18, 2024
Not only did Brodie score but he also had a stellar chance in the first period, meaning he was just centimetres from an unbelievable outlier night.
off the post pic.twitter.com/H2yuQzaIln
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 18, 2024
The veteran defenceman also had some of the most respectable on-ice numbers any Maple Leaf managed. The Maple Leafs played Tampa Bay to a shot stalemate and conceded just one goal in his five-on-five minutes, and he ranked sixth on the team in expected goal rate with a grim 42.42 percent.
3. Auston Matthews
Matthews did not complete his mission but he put in a valiant effort. There were a few times when he took low-danger shots that weren’t the best possible play, but he also generated plenty of legitimate offence.
If he’d scored he would’ve been the first star, and he was a whisper away on multiple occasions. Very few Maple Leafs did well in this game, so we’re happy to toss a mention to Matthews on a night where he put 11 shots on goal.
The chase for 70
It was apparent from the very beginning of this game that the Maple Leafs were going to move heaven and earth to try to get Matthews his milestone.
Perhaps the best example of that was Mitch Marner trying to put the net back on when Toronto was threatening in the offensive zone. That’s a play that simply would not have happened in a different situation.
the net got knocked off and Marner put it back on lol pic.twitter.com/ltiymF59VD
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 17, 2024
The way Matthews turned his aggressiveness up was a touch more subtle because he’s never shy about putting the puck on net in any context, but he put pucks on net at a rate that was unusual even for him
Auston Matthews had 7 shots in that period. Only the second time he's ever done that.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) April 17, 2024
Matthews didn’t muster a shot on net in the second period, but he had two promising chances. His first was foiled by the skate of Emil Lilleberg, while the crossbar got in the way of his next golden opportunity.
Liliberg's skate stopped Matthews pic.twitter.com/RcDB7qOjwn
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 18, 2024
Auston Matthews' parents were ready for that shot to be No. 70 😩 pic.twitter.com/zpO3ZZMfOQ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 18, 2024
In the final frame, Matthews began to pepper the net once again putting four shots on target. The most dangerous of his attempts was this power-play chance from the top of the circle.
the shots keep flying pic.twitter.com/rImy3L5EQj
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 18, 2024
The Maple Leafs went as far as pulling Martin Jones late in the third in an effort to get Matthews his 70th, but their six-on-five opportunity led to a John Tavares goal instead. Matthews finished the night with 0.55 expected goals in 21:01 but he couldn’t get the red light to turn on.
A quick comparison to the 2022-23 team
If your instinct entering the postseason is that these Maple Leafs might be a little bit worse across the board compared to last season’s group, that would be absolutely on the money.
This version of the Maple Leafs is inferior to the 2022-23 team by most basic metrics.
Much of the difference between the two can be explained by goaltending, though, as last season the team posted a .913 save percentage and its final 2023-24 mark is .898. Toronto’s possession numbers at five-on-five are relatively similar as the Leafs rank eighth in shot share for the second consecutive season.
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We’ll soon find out how this postseason effort compares to recent playoff failures.
This group is infused with the kind of nastiness that’s supposed to serve them well for a Stanley Cup run, but it didn’t get the same calibre of in-season reinforcements that the 2022-23 Maple Leafs did when Ryan O’Reilly put on the blue and white.
Game score
Final grade: Fail
There’s normally room for subjectivity when it comes to evaluating an NHL game, but the unusual circ*mstances of this one made a pass/fail grading system seem more appropriate.
Matthews ended the season with 69 goals, and so Toronto’s effort has to go down as a failure.
When their top goal scorer wasn’t on the ice, the Maple Leafs lacked intensity and played an uninspired brand of hockey. Considering they were playing for nothing without their two best defencemen, top two goaltenders and some important forwards, it seems silly to bring the hammer down on them for that.
Alarmists looking for something to fret over could find a way to be upset about this showing, but it was a foreseeable result of the Maple Leafs’ aims for their finale. While Toronto undoubtedly would’ve preferred ending its season on a winning note, if that meant something to the team there’s a great deal they would’ve done differently.
What’s next for the Leafs?
A first-round playoff series with the Boston Bruins beginning on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
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(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / USA Today)
