NHL Schedule-Makers Hammer the Leafs With Unfair Schedule as Season Winds Down

The Toronto Maple Leafs have only 6 games remaining on their regular season schedule but are currently sitting atop the Atlantic Division with 98 points.

They have a 4-point edge on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who still have a game in hand, and were up 6 points on the Florida Panthers, who entered Sunday's slate of games with a tough matchup against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Leafs have rattled off 4 straight wins, including one against the Panthers last week, but to get to the finish line, they have an unenviable schedule with 2 back-to-back sets in succession all against playoff teams or teams chasing them for the division crown.

Toronto is off until Tuesday night but they open up a 2-game swing in Florida with a road matchup against the Panthers before a daunting tilt against the Lightning the very next day. Then, they return home to play Montreal on the 12th before heading back out on the road to play Carolina on the 13th.

Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll are both going to be needed down the stretch and the division crown is essentially on the line early next week. If the Leafs can manage to sweep the Florida back-to-back set in regulation they would hold all the cards ahead of the first round of the playoffs.

Both the Panthers and the Lightning have one game in between their showdowns with the Maple Leafs with Tampa Bay visiting the New York Rangers on Monday. If all goes in Toronto's favour and they lose their respective games, that would give the Leafs even more breathing room ahead of Tuesday night.

The top three teams in the Atlantic have put on a show all year long and it's almost fitting that it's going to come down to the last few games. Even by Wednesday night, we might not have our answer, but the Leafs can almost negate the second back-to-back set if they can pull off back-to-back regulation wins over the Floridian teams.