The collapse continues.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, in a bid to make it back-to-back playoff appearances, have now lost seven straight games. Their latest defeat in this free fall came Friday night to the Philadelphia Flyers, as the Leafs lost by a final score of 4-2. Not even a new franchise record for the fastest goal to begin a period - off the stick of James van Riemsdyk four seconds into the second period - could help the Leafs on this night.
Currently tied with three other teams at 80 points for the two remaining playoff positions in the Eastern Conference Wild Card, the Leafs are on the post-season bubble but will remain in the 10th position. Perhaps the only positive from the night is that the Columbus Blue Jackets, part of that four-team logjam in the East, also lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On Friday, the Leafs found themselves down by a pair of goals in the second period and just couldn’t recover. Now the question becomes, can they recover from this latest losing streak?
As the Maple Leafs go, I'd estimate that about 13 of their 18 wheels have left the cliff.
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) March 29, 2014