Breaking Down the Battle for the Eastern Conference's Final Playoff Spot

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs, although in the best position to secure the final spot in the Atlantic Division bracket, have quite possibly the toughest schedule remaining out of any teams left in the fight for a spot.

With games against the Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins remaining in the their final two weeks, the Leafs will have to overcome serious adversity to gain key points in the standings race.

The benefit of Toronto's schedule, however, is their success against the teams they're going to play. Per PlayoffStatus, the Leafs have the third-highest success rate against opponents of unplayed games at 53%.

Toronto is playing well, winning 7 of their last 10 games, going 7-2-1 in that span.

Auston Matthews, as he has most of the year, is leading the way for Toronto. He notched his 34th goal of the season, tying Wendel Clark for the Leafs' rookie record for goals in a season.

Per our models, Toronto has a 75.04% chance of making the playoffs entering tonight's games. We project them to end the year 39-27-16 and have them slated for 93.6 points.