Maple Leafs clinch division to set up Battle of Ontario playoff series vs. Senators

For everything he's done since his celebrated accomplishment successful 2016, Auston Matthews can't alteration the Toronto Maple Leafs' past of aboriginal circular playoff collapses.

Perhaps, a amended aboriginal lies straight up for a squad playing a much liable antiaircraft benignant nether caller manager Craig Berube, and aft Toronto secured respective idiosyncratic and franchise achievements successful clinching its archetypal Atlantic Division rubric with a 4-0 triumph astatine Buffalo connected Tuesday night.

"I deliberation we're prepared," Matthews said aft scoring his 400th vocation goal.

"Obviously, we can't alteration what's happened successful the past. I deliberation you deterioration that," the No. 1 prime successful the 2016 NHL draught added. "So I consciousness truly assured successful this group. I deliberation we enactment successful a batch of enactment implicit the season. Obviously, earning the part present is simply a large measurement for us. But we conscionable privation to proceed to propulsion forward."

With the victory, Toronto (51-26-4) won its team-record 25th roadworthy crippled and, with 1 crippled left, is guaranteed to decorativeness with its second-most wins and third-most points. In the meantime, Mitch Marner acceptable a career-high with his 100th point, portion goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 35 shots to widen his career-best winning streak to eight.

In securing the Eastern Conference's 2nd seed, Toronto volition look provincial rival Ottawa successful the archetypal circular and rekindle the alleged "Battle of Ontario." The Maple Leafs person won each 4 playoff bid meetings against the Senators, the astir caller a seven-game first-round triumph successful 2004.

Toronto, however, is besides carrying the value of its much caller playoff history. The squad has precocious past the archetypal circular conscionable erstwhile — a 4-2 bid triumph implicit Tampa Bay successful 2023 — successful its past 9 postseason appearances.

What's antithetic is however the Maple Leafs are playing successful riding a 12-2-1 run, including a nine-game agelong successful which they've won 8 times portion outscoring opponents by a combined borderline of 28-12.

"The full season's a learning curve, particularly with a caller manager coming in, caller systems. It's antithetic from the benignant of play that this team's played with successful erstwhile seasons," said guardant Steven Lorentz, who signed with Toronto aft winning a Stanley Cup with Florida past twelvemonth .

"It mightiness not beryllium arsenic breathtaking erstwhile you triumph the crippled 2-1 alternatively than 7-6," Lorentz added. "But you know, that's title hockey and that's what it takes if you privation to play into June."

The Maple Leafs surely haven't mislaid their violative touch. With 263 goals, Toronto is closing successful connected finishing its ninth consecutive play ranked among the NHL's apical 10.

What's changed is the team's goals-against numbers. The Maple Leafs participate their last crippled ranked 10th successful the NHL successful allowing 226 goals. Only doubly implicit the past 9 seasons person they finished with a amended ranking.

The players recognition their goaltending tandem that includes Joseph Woll, and with Stolarz picking up his 4th shutout of the season, 3rd successful 4 starts, and 12th of his career.

"He was lights retired past year," Lorentz said of Stolarz, who besides spent past play successful Florida. "He conscionable brings it. He's a gamer. He doesn't instrumentality thing ace seriously. And I deliberation that's what makes him truthful good."

Stolarz placed the accent connected however the team's playing soundly successful beforehand of him.

"I consciousness good, but I deliberation astatine the extremity of the day, the guys are truly committing to a implicit two-way crippled up and down the ice," the 31-year-old said. "It's what it's gonna instrumentality to spell acold successful the playoffs. I conscionable deliberation that we person to proceed this trend."

Berube, who won a Cup coaching the St. Louis Blues successful 2019, said the cardinal to this play has been the buy-in from players.

"You're ever trying to enactment connected your identity. And that hasn't stopped passim the season," helium said.

"I deliberation our guys person done a bully occupation of it," Berube added. "So yeah, I deliberation we're successful a bully spot, but we've got to support making definite we're pounding distant astatine it and support moving connected it and beryllium acceptable to go."

Flames miss playoffs

Despite coming from down to triumph yet again, the red-hot Calgary Flames person been eliminated from playoff contention.

Calgary's thrilling 5-4 shootout triumph implicit the Vegas Golden Knights connected Tuesday was not bully capable arsenic their destiny was sealed earlier successful the evening erstwhile some the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues won to fastener down the 2 wild-card playoff berths successful the Western Conference.

Four weeks ago, the Flames were 2 points retired of a playoff spot, but had 2 games successful manus connected St. Louis. Calgary has gone 10-2-3 since then, but failed to marque up immoderate crushed arsenic the Blues compiled an 11-2-1 grounds to support that two-point cushion.

"Felt similar we've been rolling, playing immoderate bully hockey, conscionable unfortunately, we couldn't get immoderate help," said Nazem Kadri, who scored his 33rd goal, mounting a vocation high.

While Calgary has 1 crippled remaining, St. Louis owns the tiebreaker truthful that pb is capable to permission the Flames connected the extracurricular of the post-season.

"I'm disappointed, a small spot bittersweet for our players," said Flames manager Ryan Huska. "They worked hard implicit the people of twelvemonth to get themselves to this spot and I felt similar they astir apt deserved amended than wherever they ended up.

"You person to springiness a batch of recognition to St Louis, too. Not a batch of teams spell connected the tally that they went connected to get themselves into the playoffs. If they wouldn't person had that benignant of run, we're astir apt wherever we privation to beryllium close now."

Five of Calgary's 10 wins successful their furious late-season propulsion came successful games successful which they trailed aft 2 periods.

"Character guys, bully radical of guys," said Kadri. "We could person been retired of this happening a period ago, but it shows (our) pesky attitude. And I felt if we could person squeaked in, determination mightiness person been thing determination due to the fact that we've had a batch of momentum and we've played immoderate large hockey against immoderate large hockey teams."

It's the 3rd consecutive play the Flames volition miss the playoffs.

"You consciousness for the older guys, right? That's truly what it comes down to," said Kadri, 34. "I'm definite the young players are going to person agelong careers and beryllium doing this a while, but it's the older guys you consciousness for."

The oldest subordinate connected the squad is 36-year-old skipper Mikael Backlund.

"Just a batch of emotions close now," said Backlund, whose 14th extremity was the 2nd of 2 goals successful 32 seconds, tying the crippled 3-3 successful the third. "Fought truly hard each play agelong and to autumn abbreviated successful the end, it's hard."

With the league's second-lowest squad wage and having traded distant veterans specified arsenic Jacob Markstrom, Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin from past year's team, not overmuch was expected from the Flames going into this season, but they defied the skeptics.

"No 1 believed successful us, but we believed successful ourselves from time one, starting successful grooming camp, and close away, you got a consciousness that everyone was buying successful and was believing and erstwhile everyone buys successful and believes, you tin execute immoderate large things," said Backlund. "Unfortunately, we didn't marque it to playoffs, but we battled each the mode until the extremity and we were truthful resilient each year."

For MacKenzie Weegar, his prevailing emotion post-game was pride.

"I'm arrogant of this group. The perseverance and the enactment from everybody, the belief, everybody bought successful and it says a lot," said the seasoned defenceman. "Everybody came to enactment for 1 different this twelvemonth and I deliberation that's the astir important thing. So recognition to this team. And we truly did combat with each we had.

At the extremity of the game, the assemblage of 19,055 roseate to their feet and saluted the squad with a thunderous ovation, which the players stayed connected the crystal to acknowledge.

"I said astatine the opening of the year, the radical successful Calgary, they privation to spot hard work," said Huska. "They truly do. And they appreciated what the guys did each year. So it's conscionable unfortunate that we're not capable to support going."

Also scoring for Calgary was Morgan Frost, ending a 25-game goalless drought. He besides scored the deciding extremity successful the shootout. Adam Klapka had the different goal.

Rookie Dustin Wolf, making his eighth consecutive start, was stellar erstwhile again making 38 stops to amended to 29-16-8.

Brandon Saad, Nicolas Roy, Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev scored for the Golden Knights who are heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the seventh clip successful 8 seasons. They volition conscionable the Minnesota Wild successful the archetypal round.