A night after the Vancouver Canucks bowed out of playoff contention with a 3-0 loss, the Toronto Maple Leafs completed their disastrous fall from grace with a defeat by the same score.
On successive nights the Canucks and Leafs both lose 3-0...and are both eliminated from the SC playoffs. #miserylovescompany
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) April 9, 2014
The Tampa Bay Lightning face serious worries if Ben Bishop’s injury is severe, but they didn’t have a problem beating up on the Buds 3-0 on Tuesday. Toronto has now failed to make the postseason in eight of its last nine seasons and seems primed to face some serious questions about big changes during the offseason.
From March 16 to tonight, the Leafs only won two games, going 2-10-0. They close out the 2013-14 season with games against the Florida Panthers on Thursday and the Senators on Saturday.
The Leafs are joined by the Carolina Hurricanes (who lost soundly to the New York Rangers) and Ottawa Senators (whose win against the New York Islanders counts as “too little, too late”) as teams who are officially out of the playoffs.
Update: A shootout loss to the Dallas Stars officially ended the Nashville Predators’ run.
Fans of Canadian-based NHL teams have had a tough year, as many point out:
Perhaps it’s fitting that the Montreal Canadiens are once again the only franchise located in Canada that will play beyond April 13.
Stay tuned for more updates regarding the playoff picture as Tuesday’s busy night of games slow down to a trickle (much like the Leafs’ once-promising season).