Instant Reaction: Maple Leafs lose Joe Bowen’s final home game for the greater good
But, hey, to make things a little easier to stomach, the Maple Leafs further improved their odds at keeping their first-round pick by losing to the Dallas Stars on Monday night, Bowen’s final home game be damned. They coughed up a 3-0 lead and a 5-3 lead in this game to lose 6-5 in regulation, and while the New York Rangers didn’t do them any favours on the out of town scoreboard, they remain fifth-worst in the NHL standings and could finish as low as fourth-last if they lose to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. They’d need some help from other teams, too, but the Leafs are doing their part right now.
Beyond the tanking talk, because I guess we have a responsibility to actually analyze what happened on the ice, Monday’s loss saw a couple of firsts. Jacob Quillan scored his first NHL goal after a long stretch of action with the big club, and fellow prospect Ryan Tverberg made his NHL debut. While the circumstances around the team make any sort of celebrations tough from the perspective of the fanbase, these are no doubt two big moments that will give these players an everlasting memory.
The Leafs will wrap up their season on the road against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, and from there, the attention shifts to the early-May draft lottery.
One more game.