# 2019–20 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 2019–20 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 103rd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on November 22, 1917.
The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The Maple Leafs advanced to the qualifying round of the playoffs, but lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets, two games to three.

## Regular season

The season was generally considered disappointing for the Leafs. In the offseason they were predicted to have a strong season and be a major playoff contender. However, they never really lived up to that promise. At the start of the season, John Tavares was named the 25th captain in the history of the Maple Leafs, filling a position that had been vacant since Dion Phaneuf was traded to the Ottawa Senators in February 2016. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Morgan Rielly were named alternate captains. The Maple Leafs won their season opener 5–3 against the Ottawa Senators on October 3. Matthews scored two goals, becoming the fourth player in NHL history to score in each of his first four-season openers. Ilya Mikheyev also had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut during the season opener. However, the Leafs would go on to post a disappointing 6-5-3 record for October.
On November 20, following a six-game skid and only two regulation wins in their past 16 games, the Maple Leafs fired head coach Mike Babcock, and replaced him with their AHL affiliation Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe. After the coaching change, the team saw some improvement.
On February 22, 2020, the Leafs lost a game to the Carolina Hurricanes while David Ayres, a zamboni driver who worked within the Leafs organization, played goal for the Hurricanes after both Hurricane goalies were injured in said game. It was the first time in NHL history that an emergency backup goaltender recorded a win. Steve Dangle's YouTube video titled "THEY LOST TO A ZAMBONI DRIVER" went viral after the game.
After the NHL was paused in March and resumed in August, the Leafs played the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round (which was unique to the 2020 NHL Playoffs), and lost the best of 5 series in 5 games.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Boston Bruins | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 227 | 174 | +53 | 100 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 70 | 43 | 21 | 6 | 35 | 245 | 195 | +50 | 92 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 36 | 25 | 9 | 28 | 238 | 227 | +11 | 81 |
| 4 | Florida Panthers | 69 | 35 | 26 | 8 | 30 | 231 | 228 | +3 | 78 |
| 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 71 | 31 | 31 | 9 | 19 | 212 | 221 | −9 | 71 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | 30 | 31 | 8 | 22 | 195 | 217 | −22 | 68 |
| 7 | Ottawa Senators | 71 | 25 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 191 | 243 | −52 | 62 |
| 8 | Detroit Red Wings | 71 | 17 | 49 | 5 | 13 | 145 | 267 | −122 | 39 |

### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 227 | 174 | +53 | .714 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 70 | 43 | 21 | 6 | 35 | 245 | 195 | +50 | .657 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 3 | Washington Capitals | 69 | 41 | 20 | 8 | 31 | 240 | 215 | +25 | .652 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 4 | Philadelphia Flyers | 69 | 41 | 21 | 7 | 31 | 232 | 196 | +36 | .645 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 69 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 224 | 196 | +28 | .623 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 6 | Carolina Hurricanes | 68 | 38 | 25 | 5 | 27 | 222 | 193 | +29 | .596 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 7 | New York Islanders | 68 | 35 | 23 | 10 | 24 | 192 | 193 | −1 | .588 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 36 | 25 | 9 | 28 | 238 | 227 | +11 | .579 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 9 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 70 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 25 | 180 | 187 | −7 | .579 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 10 | Florida Panthers | 69 | 35 | 26 | 8 | 30 | 231 | 228 | +3 | .565 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 11 | New York Rangers | 70 | 37 | 28 | 5 | 31 | 234 | 222 | +12 | .564 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 12 | Montreal Canadiens | 71 | 31 | 31 | 9 | 19 | 212 | 221 | −9 | .500 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 13 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | 30 | 31 | 8 | 22 | 195 | 217 | −22 | .493 | |
| 14 | New Jersey Devils | 69 | 28 | 29 | 12 | 22 | 189 | 230 | −41 | .493 | |
| 15 | Ottawa Senators | 71 | 25 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 191 | 243 | −52 | .437 | |
| 16 | Detroit Red Wings | 71 | 17 | 49 | 5 | 13 | 145 | 267 | −122 | .275 | |

## Record vs opponents

| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference |
| Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Metropolitan Division | Metropolitan Division | Metropolitan Division | Metropolitan Division | Metropolitan Division | Central Division | Central Division | Central Division | Pacific Division | Pacific Division | Pacific Division |
| Team | Home | Home | Road | Road | Team | Home | Home | Road | Road | Team | Home | Road | Team | Home | Road |
| Boston | 4–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | Mar 14 | Carolina | 8–6 | 3–6 | Mar 26 | | Chicago | 2–6 | 4–5 | Anaheim | 5–4 | 1–2 |
| Buffalo | 2–1 | 5–3 | 4–6 | 2–5 | Columbus | 3–4 | Mar 21 | 4–1 | | Colorado | 1–3 | 5–3 | Arizona | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Detroit | 4–1 | Apr 2 | 5–2 | 6–0 | New Jersey | 7–4 | Mar 17 | 5–4 | | Dallas | 2–3 | 5–3 | Calgary | 1–2 | 2–4 |
| Florida | 3–5 | Mar 23 | 4–8 | 5–3 | N.Y. Islanders | 3–0 | Mar 19 | 4–5 | | Minnesota | 4–2 | 4–1 | Edmonton | 4–6 | 4–1 |
| Montreal | 5–6 | Apr 4 | 2–5 | 1–2 | N.Y. Rangers | 4–5 | | 6–3 | 3–5 | Nashville | Mar 12 | 5–2 | Los Angeles | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Ottawa | 5–3 | 2–1 | 4–2 | Mar 28 | Philadelphia | 2–3 | | 4–3 | 1–6 | St. Louis | 2–3 | 5–2 | San Jose | 4–1 | 2–5 |
| Tampa Bay | 3–7 | 2–1 | 4–3 | Mar 25 | Pittsburgh | 4–0 | | 1–6 | 2–5 | Winnipeg | 3–4 | 6–3 | Vancouver | 4–2 | 4–1 |
| | | | | | Washington | 3–4 | | 3–4 | Mar 31 | | | | Vegas | 2–1 | 2–4 |
| Records | 7–3–1 | 7–3–1 | 5–5–1 | 5–5–1 | | 4–1–4 | 4–1–4 | 4–6–0 | 4–6–0 | | 1–4–1 | 6–1–0 | | 6–1–1 | 3–4–1 |
| Division | 12–8–2 | 12–8–2 | 12–8–2 | 12–8–2 | | 8–7–4 | 8–7–4 | 8–7–4 | 8–7–4 | | 7–5–1 | 7–5–1 | | 9–5–2 | 9–5–2 |
| Conference | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | 20–15–6 (Home: 11–4–5; Road: 9–11–1) | | 16–10–3 (Home: 7–5–2; Road: 9–5–1) | 16–10–3 (Home: 7–5–2; Road: 9–5–1) | 16–10–3 (Home: 7–5–2; Road: 9–5–1) | 16–10–3 (Home: 7–5–2; Road: 9–5–1) | 16–10–3 (Home: 7–5–2; Road: 9–5–1) |
| Overall | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) | 36–25–9 (Home: 18–9–7; Road: 18–16–2) |