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The victory lifted the Leafs (40-26-15) into the National
Hockey League playoffs for the first time in four years.
"I'm proud of the guys, I'm excited for the guys. They've done a
good job," head coach Mike Babcock told reporters. "I thought it
would be like this – you have to really crawl in at the end.
"A good win for our city and for our loyal fanbase."
Connor Brown deflected a shot from Jake Gardiner over the glove
of Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury with 2:48 left in the
third period to give Toronto a 4-3 lead, and Auston Matthews
scored his 40th goal of the season into an empty net with four
seconds left for the final tally.
Matthews, 19, became the fourth NHL rookie ever to reach the
40-goal mark in a season prior to turning 20, joining Dale
Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux and Sylvain Turgeon in that select
club.
Toronto's victory eliminated the New York Islanders and Tampa
Bay Lightning from playoff contention and advanced the Maple
Leafs to a first-round date against either Washington or Ottawa.
Pittsburgh (50-20-11) had already clinched home-ice advantage
for their first-round playoff series against the Columbus Blue
Jackets.
The Stanley Cup tournament will begin on Wednesday with the
schedule to be announced on Sunday, the last day of the National
Hockey League's regular season.
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Amlan
Chakraborty)
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