LEAFS POSTGAME: Leafs clinch bottom two finish

There was a lot on the line in Toronto tonight, with the Leafs playing their last home game of the season against Columbus. A win would create more drama for Toronto’s draft lottery hopes, but a loss would guarantee that they could finish the season no higher than 29th. 

And boy, did they make sure they finish no higher than 29th.

After a brutal 1st period in which the teams combined for 15 shots, the game really opened up in the second. Morgan Rielly opened the scoring with a beautiful shorthanded snipe, simultaneously delighting and scaring fans in the process. Fortunately, Brandon “The Only Good Player Columbus Has Signed Long-Term” Saad would begin Columbus’s dominance ten minutes later. Brandon “The Brandon that isn’t as good” Dubinsky added another before the end of the period. 

Columbus would add three more goals in the third, with Bjorkstrand, Calvert, and Dubinsky’s second being the tallies.

With the loss, Toronto’s draft lottery odds start to become more set in stone – they are guaranteed to finish no higher than 29th. And with Edmonton’s win tonight, the Leafs are tentatively in 30th place with two games to go.

No one was good, so let’s pull a Winnipeg and go with The Fans.

The Leafs play their second last game of the season tomorrow in Philadelphia. Game starts at 7. If the Leafs lose, they are guaranteed to finish 30th.