Florida Panthers 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 2, Final

The Panthers completed a sweep of fast fading Toronto by skating off with a 5-2 victory Tuesday night in Sunrise. Toronto hasn’t collected a regulation victory against the Panthers since October of 2010.

Sean Bergenheim (15, 16) opened the scoring 59 seconds into the game and closed it with just over a minute remaining. Jason Garrison (15) tied a Panther’s record for goals by defensemen, and Tomas Kopecky (7) and Marcel Goc (9) added power play markers for the Cats.

Tyler Bozak (15) and Mikhail Grabovski (22) lit the lamp for Toronto. James Reimer continued his historical ineptitude against Florida, stopping 22-of-26 shots in defeat. In three games against the Panthers he has stopped 45-of-57 shots, a .789 save percentage.

Jose Theodore’s shutout streak was ended with just over a minute left to play in the second period at two hours and one minute. Theodore faced a total of 28 shots, stopping 26.

HITS: Keaton Ellerby collected five hits for the Panthers. Tomas Kopecky and Mike Weaver racked up four hits each.

BLOCKED SHOTS: Ellerby and Weaver blocked three shots apiece for Florida.

FACEOFFS: Marcel Goc and Stephen Weiss each split their faceoff opportunites, going a collective 15-of-30.

SHOTS ON GOAL: Jason Garrison and Kopecky each took five shots on Reimer’s goal to lead the Panthers.

Toronto Maple Leafs Visit Florida Panthers: Injury Report And Starting Lineup

Florida Panthers:

Injuries:

Matt Bradley and Jack Skille are probably both done for the season. Scotty Upshall, Dmitry Kulikov, and Kris Versteeg are all nearing their returns, but probably not tonight.

Starting Lineup:

Forwards:

14 - 9 - 8

20 - 57 - 26

82 - 18 - 13

16 - 10 - 25

Defensemen:

52 - 51

4 - 43

55 - 44

Goalie:

Jose Theodore has been confirmed as the Panthers starter tonight between the pipes. He is 3-0-0 against the Leafs this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Injuries:

Starting Lineup:

Forwards:

Tim Connolly - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel

Clarke MacArthur - Mikhail Grabovsky - Nikolai Kulemin

Joey Crabb - Dave Steckel - Carter Ashton

Colby Armstrong - Matthew Lombardi - Matt Frattin

Defensemen:

Carl Gunnarsson - Dion Phaneuf

John-Michael Liles - Mike Komisarek

Jake Gardiner - Luke Schenn

Goalie:

James Reimer is listed as probable tonight. The Panthers have owned this guy, his GAA is 5.86 against Florida, with a save percentage of .742.

Toronto Maple Leafs Visit Florida Panthers: Facts And Figures

Common Thread:

Panthers forward Kris Versteeg played in 53 games last season for the Maple Leafs, scoring 14 goals and 21 assists with a minus-13 rating and 29 penalty minutes.

Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen appeared in three games for the Maple Leafs in 2007-08, posting a 1-1-0 record, a .839 save percentage and a 3.90 GAA.

Florida Panther milestones:

Goals: Jason Garrison is in 50th with 21 goals, tied with Brett McLean. Tomas Fleischmann and Kris Versteeg are tied in 48th with 22 goals. Shawn Matthias moves past Mike Van Ryn into 45th with his next goal, number 26. Mike Santorelli moves into a tie for 37th with Niklas Hagman if goal number 30 happens tonight. Ed Jovanovski will tie Richard Zednik in 32nd with his 32nd goal. Two more goals for Stephen Weiss will move him into a tie for fourth with Nathan Horton, at 142.

Assists: If Brian Campbell collects an assist, it will be his 41st with Florida, moving him past Terry Carkner into 49th. Ed Jovanovski’s next assist will give him 61, moving him past Dave Lowry into 28th.

Team Leaders:

Games Played:Mike Weaver, Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann – 68

Goals:Kris Versteeg, Tomas Fleischmann – 22, Stephen Weiss – 16

Assists:Brian Campbell – 40
Stephen Weiss – 32
Tomas Fleischmann, Kris Versteeg – 27

Points:Kris Versteeg, Tomas Fleischmann – 49
Stephen Weiss – 48

Plus/Minus:Stephen Weiss, Jason Garrison – plus-6
Marcel Goc – plus-3

Point Shares:
Jose Theodore – 8.2
Brian Campbell – 7.0
Jason Garrison – 6.9

Toronto Maple Leafs Visit Florida Panthers: Game 69 Preview

Toronto is fighting for their playoff lives, but the Panthers have been tough on them lately. The Leafs visit Sunrise, tonight.