Instant Reaction: Maple Leafs beat Bruins, continue to go down swinging in lost season
The Leafs outplayed the Bruins, rookie Easton Cowan went after Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov (who has half a foot and about 60 pounds on him) after a hit from behind on John Tavares, Dakota Joshua dropped the gloves with Zadorov to start the third period, and the Leafs came away with a 4-2 win. A spirited win against a rival with victories on the scoresheet and the physical aspect of the game in March would be cause for celebration 99% of the time. Unfortunately, tonight’s game was the 1% of the time where there doesn’t feel like a lot to cheer about.
Not to be the Debbie Downer here, but in fairness, the team made it this way. They’re ten games away from the end of the season and all but guaranteed to miss the playoffs, and they have to lose as much as possible to give themselves the best possible odds to finish with a bottom-5 pick so they don’t hand their first-round pick to the Bruins. So, the Leafs won, but in banking two meaningless points and improving the odds of a top-10 pick for the Bruins, did they really?
Ten more games to go until we can slam this chapter shut and focus on the next steps, ideally beginning with a new general manager and a new head coach.