The Florida Panthers (47-22-5) will open their final road trip of the 2023-24 regular season when they pay a visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs (42-22-9) tonight at Scotiabank Arena. Thanks to a pair of third period tallies from Aleksander Barkov, the scuffling Cats were able to get to the shootout where Sam Reinhart’s goal in the top of the first round gave them a much-needed 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. An important two points as Florida’s recent run of poor play has kept the Maple Leafs within striking distance of second place in the Atlantic Division. A loss tonight will cut the Panthers lead over Buds to four points, with Toronto holding a game in hand.
The Maple Leafs are coming off a rousing 3-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center that saw Auston Matthews notch his 60th goal of the season to equal his career-high with 5:37 remaining in the game. Ilya Samsonov stopped 34 shots to post his 20th win and third shutout of the campaign. Toronto is on the verge of clinching a playoff spot for the eighth straight season, with their magic down to three. Matthews and William Nylander lead the Maple Leafs in scoring with 95 points.
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #LeafsForever, #FLAvsTOR, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Bay St. Blues
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 4 (1-0-1)
- LAST MEETING: @TOR 2, FLA 1 (SO) – (Recap) 11/28/2023
- NEXT MEETING: April 16, 2024
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (33-16-3 .914 / 2.40 4SO) Toronto: Samsonov (20-6-7 .893 / 3.03 3SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Toronto
Monday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- DETROIT (36-30-8 80P) at TAMPA BAY (41-25-7 89P) 7 p.m.
Idle: BOS (101P), BUF (75P), OTT (70P), MTL (68P)