Another win just means another day on life support for the playoff-hopeful Maple Leafs.
SUNRISE, FLA — The problem with this time of year, when you are a Toronto Maple Leaf, is that there is no time to enjoy your success.
Walk into Raleigh and knock of the Hurricanes by a 3-1 score?
Great.
Three points from your captain, who suddenly is looking like the guy Brian Burke envisioned when he slapped that ‘C’ on Dion Phaneuf’s chest?
Perfect.
"These are huge points for our team," Phaneuf said post-game. "(But Thursday) is a new day and a new challenge. We've got to move forward and take these points and an even bigger game."
What’s a win in Carolina going to be worth if you can’t follow that up with another one in Florida tonight?
Not a darned thing, that’s what.
On a team that has more "must-win games" bestowed upon it than any other, simply because its media horde is bigger than anyone else’s, we have indeed arrived at a contest that would fall under anyone’s definition of the term.
"(Toronto) can’t afford to lose — especially to us," said Florida head coach Peter DeBoer. "Hopefully we can get them gripping their sticks a little tighter."
Florida is miles out of the race, while Toronto still has a long road between them and their first playoff berth since the spring of ’04. When you don’t beat the Panthers of the world at this juncture in the season you tend to end up residing with them, on the wrong side of the playoff cut-off line.
"I didn’t see it earlier in the year," said DeBoer ,when asked about the Maple Leafs, "but they’re an explosive team. They can really score. Their defence has tightened up, and they’re getting goaltending now."
Toronto woke up this morning in 10th spot — two points back of Carolina and four back of the last playoff spot and the Buffalo Sabres.
The opponent tonight is the 26th overall Panthers, whose playoff aspirations have long since been buried. They have played six straight one-goal games, but won only two of those.
In fact, Florida has played 44 one-goal games this season, winning just 18 of them. In explaining why his team has seen its season go down the toilet, one-goal game by one-goal game, DeBoer spoke to his own team while inadvertently describing the Leafs as well.
"Well, you’re not good enough," DeBoer began, referring to his Panthers. "That’s the telltale sign for being in that many close games and not coming out on the right side of them. There are all kinds of reasons why ... but at the end of the day, 82 games tell the tale.
"We’re not good enough."
By 10:30 this evening, the Maple Leafs will have only 10 games left in their season. Buffalo will have 12, Carolina 11.
Win tonight in Sunrise and the Maple Leafs will be two points back of the playoffs. Sure, there are games in hand, and two teams to pass by in the standings. But at least there will be more must-win games on the docket for Toronto.
Lose to these terminally woeful Panthers, and those four points and two games in hand that the Sabres would have begin to look insurmountable.
According to Sportsclubstats.com, a web site that does the objective math on teams’ odds of making the post-season, Toronto has a skimpy 3.6 per cent chance of making the playoffs. Carolina was at 24.4 per cent before Thursday’s games, and Buffalo at 73.7 per cent.
That means if a team put itself in the exact position the Leafs find themselves in today for 25 straight seasons, they would overcome the odds to make it just once.
I’ll give the Leafs credit.
I wrote them off at New Years, and we’re still writing about a live body on St. Paddy’s Day.
That’s not an admission that we’re wrong — in fact, the odds are that we were right.
But they’ve lived to play a meaningful game on March 17.
It’s not much, but it’s something.
