Here’s a hot take: The Leafs should rest Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Ilya Samsonov and Mark Giordano for the entire first round.
Jokes aside, what a night in Tampa in the final dress rehearsal before things get going for real between the two squads next week at Scotiabank Arena.
William Nylander notched a goal and two helpers to lead the Leafs to a 4-3 victory in the penultimate game of the regular season. For what it’s worth, Toronto took two of three from the Lightning in 2022-23.
For the second straight night, the Leafs received a monstrous outing from their starting goalie as Joseph Woll made 46 stops for his fifth consecutive victory. Meantime, Luke Schenn, who potted his first goal with Toronto since February 2012, fell just an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick.
Furthermore, Ryan O’Reilly and Calle Jarnkrok each chipped in with a goal and an assist. Also, Matthew Knies tallied his first career point – an assist on O’Reilly game winning goal.
 
MUZZY’S MUZINGS:
SCHENNSATIONAL
That right there – my friends – is why the Leafs went out and acquired Luke Schenn. It wasn’t a meaningless game for the 33-year-old, that’s for sure. In fact, at the first intermission, the former Bolt was already an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick. For context, he knuckled one past Andrei …

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Author: Nick Alberga / The Leafs Nation