Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 2.21

www.afootinthecrease.com

It’s very simple. If the Maple Leafs are interested in joining seven other teams in the Eastern Conference in a battle for a coveted spot in the Stanley Cup Finals come spring time, they will have to play a lot more games like Saturday against Montreal and an awful lot less games like a week ago Saturday against Pittsburgh. It seems quite elementary, I agree. The game against Montreal was a win, the game against Pittsburgh, a loss. Wins put you in the playoffs, losses don’t. But it was the way in which the Maple Leafs won that game that creates a lot of optimism for this team’s chances going forward.

With 32 games left in the regular season, the Maple Leafs currently sit with 52 points. Looking at past history, its very unlikely a team will make the playoffs with anything less than 92 points. While there is the chance, once all is said and done, that the 8th place team could hold less than that number, reaching 92 points likely ensures a ticket to the dance. That means the Maple Leafs would need 40 of a possible 64 available points or 20 wins in 32 games.

Definitely not an easy task but it is one that certainly is doable if the Maple Leafs put in the same type of effort they did in their first game back after the all star break. Playing with the same sort of urgency and desperation they did in that game will give them a chance to win big games down the stretch as points become more and more valuable. Theoretically a game in October is worth the same as a game in April but it is only human nature to turn up the effort as the end of the season nears and playoff spots start to appear up for grabs. That means to win those games down the stretch, a team has to be better than they were when they won games in October. Last night, the Maple Leafs were better than they were in October and if they keep up the same kind of play, they will be better in Game 1 of the playoffs than they were last night. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.