from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

There are no moral victories in the National Hockey League. So, no, 45 shots on goal against a team that had lost 11 of its previous 12 shouldn’t have had the Leafs feeling good about themselves afterward.

Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev – who made 55 saves against the Leafs in a New York win on Feb. 10 – was fine, but the 23-year-old didn’t have to be overly spectacular.

Fact is, the Leafs should have beaten this Rangers team with relative ease.

“They’re obviously out of a playoff spot but those guys worked really hard and they wanted to win,” said Zach Hyman, who scored Toronto’s goal. “That’s the type of hockey you’re getting as we move on here and come playoff time, you have to start converting on your chances. They’re going to be tight games like this one and you get to play in games like this.”

True, playoff games will be tight. But they’re going tight to be against the Boston Bruins, a team that won for the 19th time in 24 games on Saturday when it beat Florida. The Leafs are seven points behind the Bruins, who also have seven games left, for second in the Atlantic.

At this late stage, the Leafs shouldn’t be getting a lesson from a team such as the Rangers, one that is 23 points behind them in the standings.

more

Catch the game highlights below.