From dead last to the postseason? One of the Toronto Maple Leafs' brightest young stars isn't ruling it out.
"We all want to make the playoffs and obviously go far in them," Mitch Marner told reporters including The Athletic's James Mirtle after a thrilling overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the Centennial Classic at BMO Field on Sunday.
Watch: Matthews wins Centennial Classic for Maple Leafs in OT
What once seemed like a pipe dream isn't too far fetched. After earning their fifth straight win Sunday, the Leafs are three points behind the third-place Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division with three games in hand.
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock believes the club can get there eventually, but doesn't think it's a perennial contender just yet.
"We're finding players every day as we watch them grow, and we have aspirations to be a really good team in the National Hockey League, one that in the summer you know you're going to make the playoffs," Babcock said Sunday, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.
"That's not where we're at right now, but we're a work in progress. We like the direction we're going.''
Buoyed by the instant impact of Auston Matthews and Marner, the steady play of Frederik Andersen, and the continued development of William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, and Morgan Rielly, the Leafs appear poised to put last season's last-place finish behind them.
Toronto has certainly exceeded expectations in the first half of the season, but with eight rookies, 46 games remaining, and a couple of playoff-tested clubs in its way, it'll be an uphill battle to qualify for the playoffs.
Still, Babcock - who's no stranger to the postseason - liked what he saw in a resilient victory Sunday, as the Leafs rallied to win in the extra frame after coughing up a 4-1 lead and allowing the tying goal with just over a second remaining in regulation.
"At playoff time in the National Hockey League, you're either up one or down one," he said. "It's the same every night. You've got to love the duress. You've got to love the grind. You've got to love digging in and knowing you're going to get it done, so that was a good opportunity for our team because we haven't had those kind of opportunities, so I thought that was good.''
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