"Don’t know that it means a lot": Leafs unfazed by record-setting season

Apr 18 2022, 2:56 pm

With six games to go in the regular season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are sitting pretty with the NHL’s third-best record.

Putting up a mark of 50-20-6 to total 106 points, the Leafs have followed up any concerns that last year’s division win was due solely to a weak, all-Canadian North Division.

“We’ve got a great group in here,” said starting goalie Jack Campbell. “Our coach has done a great job leading the way, and I think all the boys are really growing together.”

With Sunday’s 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders, the Leafs set a franchise record in both the wins (50) and the points (106) category.

But while the Leafs might not have specifically reached these marks before, they’ve seen great regular seasons go up in flames come playoff time, having failed to advance to the second round each of the last five seasons.

“In terms of what [the records mean], I don’t know that it means a lot — especially knowing where we need to get to as a team when it counts the most — but it is obviously not nothing,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said postgame. “It speaks to the work that this team has done. It speaks to what this team is capable of.”

Toronto is currently staring down a first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. While the Leafs hold the home-ice advantage by six points, a battle-tested Lightning squad is undoubtedly still one of the toughest outs in the league.

“We have great respect for the challenge that is ahead no matter who it is we end up facing,” Keefe said. “All of the teams are feeling just as good about themselves as we are.”

Keefe’s players were a bit more blunt in their assessment of the team’s regular season success.

“It means nothing if we don’t accomplish anything in the playoffs,” forward Alexander Kerfoot said.

For now, it’s six regular season games left to sort out the kinks of the roster, beginning with a home game tomorrow night against Philadelphia before a possible first-round preview on Thursday against Tampa Bay.

“We have been through a lot this season — ups and downs —and we have been questioned at different times — and understandably so because of what we have failed to do in previous years and where we need to get to,” Keefe added.

Adam LaskarisAdam Laskaris

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