The Florida Panthers (44-26-4) pay a visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs (45-25-4) tonight at Scotiabank Arena with lots on the line for both squads in the hotly-contested race for the Atlantic Division crown.
An unfortunate bounce off Sam Reinhart allowed Montreal’s Nick Suzuki to score with nine seconds remaining in regulation, and then again 29 seconds into overtime as Florida saw what should’ve been a 2-1 win nightmarishly morph into a 3-2 defeat to the Canadiens last night at Bell Centre. The Panthers are 4-5-1 in their last ten games and have not scored four actual goals in any of them as offense remains a huge struggle.
The Maple Leafs are beginning a two-game homestand after returning from a three-game stint in California which saw them post back-to-back hard-fought wins over the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks after they opened the trip west with a 6-5 shootout loss in San Jose. Toronto is nursing a one-point lead over Tampa Bay and has a two-point advantage over the Cats, who have already beaten them, and former goaltender Anthony Stolarz, twice this season.
This is a pretty big one as far as regular season games goes. A win in regulation gives the Panthers a 28% chance of winning the division, while a loss in regulation drops their chances to under 7%.
- WHEN: 7:30 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #LeafsForever, #FLAvsTOR, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: PPP Leafs
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 4 (2-0)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 3, @TOR 2 (Recap) – 3/13/2025
- NEXT MEETING: April 2, 2025
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (31-16-2 .907 / 2.44 5SO) Toronto: Stolarz (16-8-3 .906 / 2.78 1SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Toronto
Wednesday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
Idle: TBL (93P), OTT (84P), MON (79P), DET (75P), BUF (70P), BOS (69P)