The Toronto Maple Leafs were 36-25-9 (.579 points percentage) and will enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. They will play the No. 9 seed, the Columbus Blue Jackets (33-22-15, .579 points percentage), in one of eight best-of-5 series. The start date and hub city have not yet been determined.
Here are 5 questions facing the Maple Leafs:
1. Will Auston Matthews be a difference-maker?
Matthews scored an NHL career high 47 goals (third in the NHL) and 80 points (ninth) this season, so there's no question Columbus will check him closely and try to play physically against him. If Matthews can counter that with his size (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) and shed defenders while going to the dirty areas around the net, he could be a difference-maker the way Eric Lindros was in his prime.
2. What impact will Frederik Andersen have?
Since being acquired by Toronto in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on June 20, 2016, Andersen is 136-66-33 with a 2.77 goals-against average and .916 save percentage in the regular season. His postseason numbers have not been as good (8-11, 3.04 GAA, .911 save percentage) and the Maple Leafs have lost all three Stanley Cup Playoff series in that span, although he can hardly shoulder the bulk of blame for that. If Toronto is to eliminate Columbus, it'll need Andersen to use his experience (48 playoff games) and outduel Blue Jackets goalies Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins, who have never played in an NHL postseason game.
3. Is health going to be a factor?
Toronto is probably as healthy as it's been since the season started in October; the only regular likely to miss the series is forward Andreas Johnsson, who had knee surgery Feb. 19 with an expected recovery time of six months. Defenseman Jake Muzzin (hand) and forward Ilya Mikheyev (wrist) are healthy and have been skating as part of Phase 2 in the NHL Return to Play Plan. Columbus led the NHL with 419 man-games lost to injury this season and likely will be without forward Josh Anderson (shoulder).
4. Can their offense break through Columbus' defense?
Toronto was third in the NHL at 3.39 goals per game, and Columbus was tied for third with the Arizona Coyotes in goals allowed per game (2.61). The Maple Leafs also remember that the Blue Jackets swept the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Presidents' Trophy and led the NHL in goals per game (3.89), in the Eastern Conference First Round last season. In that series, Columbus allowed three goals in the opening 17:50 of Game 1, then gave up five goals in the final 222:10. Toronto's advantage this season is that its top two lines are centered by Matthews and John Tavares. So if the Blue Jackets put their top defense pair, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, against one line, it'll be up to the other to create scoring chances against Columbus' second pair. Success on the power play, where the Maple Leafs were tied for fifth in the NHL with the Lightning (23.1 percent), will also be key.
5. Will Sheldon Keefe's winning pedigree carry over?
The Maple Leafs were 27-15-5 after Keefe replaced Mike Babcock as coach on Nov. 20. Keefe coached Pembroke of the Central Canada Hockey League to five consecutive championships from 2006-11, and was named Canadian Hockey League Coach of the Year with Sault Ste. Marie of the Ontario Hockey League (54-12-2 in 2014-15). Three seasons later, Keefe coached Toronto of the American Hockey League to the Calder Cup championship. How he performs compared to Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, who is 655-515-120 with 37 ties in 19 NHL seasons and won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, will be an intriguing subplot.
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