Phil Kessel News

Boston - The Toronto Maple Leafs fell behind 1-0 in the second against the Bruins in Boston Saturday but clearly felt 9 years without a playoff win was enough. By the 53 second mark of the third Phil Kessel had given them a 3-1 lead and they went on to a 4-2 win.

Toronto - The Toronto Maple Leafs are finally back in the postseason so you'll have to excuse the Toronto media if everything that happens in Leafland is put under a microscope. If every event, or non-event, is made out to be as important as a Justin Bieber tweet.

Remember when there was concern in the Toronto Maple Leafs camp that Nazem Kadri would continue to miss at the NHL level? That Phil Kessel wasn't going to be able to score goals in 2013? That James Reimer wasn't a bona-fide NHL number 1 goalie?

Toronto Maple Leafs' star Phil Kessel took a while to get a scoring this season but that's all forgotten now. Kessel, with 16 goals overall, scored 5 last week and doing so got him named the NHL's 2nd star of the week.

For the first time since before the lockout - no, not the last one, the one before this last one - the blue and white iconic Toronto Maple Leafs jersey will be seen in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Surely there are even non-Leafs fans who find it intriguing.

Toronto - Ben Scrivens made 37 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs improved to a 10-6-0 record with a convincing 3-0 victory over the Florida Panthers.

In what must surely be the lowest moment in the Montreal Canadiens season to date, the arch-rival Toronto Maple Leafs walloped them, 6-0, at home in the Bell Centre Saturday. To add salt to the wound the game was on the CBC's annual Hockey Day in Canada.

Phil Kessel's goal in Winnipeg last night - late in the game, late in the season for his first - didn't just give the Toronto Maple Leafs a win. It gave them, and their fans, a Zamboni-load of hope and the knowledge that the Leafs are contenders.

Toronto - Here we go: they can't afford to go 8 straight seasons without the postseason. Some think it's a lock the Maple Leafs will extend their streak as the NHL team with the longest playoff drought but, well, they are wrong. They will get there.

On the heels of fellow third-year players Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Jeff Skinner earning lucrative multi-year deals, it appears Boston Bruins forward Tyler Seguin may be next in line for a huge payday.