The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to get absolutely no breaks from the rest of the NHL when it comes to their hunt for a playoff spot.
Following games played on Jan. 26, the Toronto Maple Leafs fell to six points out of a playoff spot after the Boston Bruins picked up a single point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Monday.
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It was a disappointing result for the Bruins, who had a 3-2 lead in the third period against the openly rebuilding New York Rangers before Will Borgen tied the game with 6:17 to go in regulation time.
That additional point means the Leafs were pushed further down to six points out the second wild card spot. They went into Monday’s action down five points out of a playoff spot. It turns out that had the Bruins won the game, it wouldn’t have impacted the Leafs’ deficit at all, since the Montreal Canadiens would have moved down to the second wild card position ahead of the Leafs by the same six points.
The Leafs certainly have their work cut out for them with five games remaining before the NHL schedule pauses for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
NHL Eastern Conference Wild Card Chase
The Maple Leafs host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. The Sabres are six points up on the Leafs, but hold the third-place spot in the Atlantic Division by virtue of fewer games played over Boston and Montreal (both with 63 points). Needless to say, this game is big for Toronto, who are on a four-game losing streak and needs to pick up some points before heading west, where they will embark on a four-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and wrap up against the Edmonton Oilers.
MoneyPuck.com opened Monday by listing the probability of the Leafs making the playoffs at 7.6 percent.
