There are score effects, and then there's the Toronto Maple Leafs with a multi-goal lead.
After a four-goal outburst in the opening frame, the Maple Leafs coasted into a top-three seed in the Atlantic Division on Friday in New Jersey. They mustered just 14 shots in the game, five in the final 40 minutes, and none in the third, but held on to a 4-2 win over the Devils.
Nazem Kadri, Connor Brown, Auston Matthews, and Tyler Bozak provided the goals less than six minutes apart in the first.
Nevertheless, Toronto improves to 6-0-1 over the last two weeks, the franchise taking points from seven straight games for the first time in almost three years.
The Maple Leafs are also now 6-0-2 in their last eight games on the road.
Bumping the Boston Bruins, the postseason seeds in the Atlantic are occupied by the three Canadian teams in the conference. Neither the Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators - or any Canadian team, for that matter - qualified for the tournament last season.
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