Toronto Maple Leafs Visit Florida Panthers: Game 69 Preview

The Panthers host the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise. This is the fourth and final meeting this season between the possible future "Conference 3" rivals, but don't hold your breath. Florida won all three prior matches in regulation, 5-1 in Toronto in November, 5-3 in Florida in December, and 5-3 again two weeks ago in Toronto. Right now, they're playing in the second game of an important four game homestand. They shut out the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-0 on Sunday, and go on to host the Boston Bruins on Thursday and the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

The Maple Leafs will be playing in the second match of a five game road trip for their playoff lives. After dropping their first game to the Washington Capitals, 2-0 on Sunday, they will continue on to visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and the Boston Bruins on Monday. Florida is 17-9-8 at home, while the Leafs carry a 14-18-2 road record into South Florida.

The last meeting between the two happened on February 28th. Marcel Goc (6) opened the scoring just 13 seconds into the first period to open the scoring, Mike Santorelli (8, 9) scored an even strength goal two minutes later and a power play marker midway through the second, Jason Garrison (14) added the eventual game winner with the man advantage in the third, and Stephen Weiss (16) closed out the Panther's scoring later in the third. For Toronto, Phil Kessel (32) and Joffrey Lupul (24) scored on the power play, and Nikolai Kuemin (7) also lit the lamp in the loss. Jose Theodore stopped 28-of-31 shots for the win, while James Reimer allowed all five goals on 23 shots in defeat. Toronto coach Ron Wilson lamented the lack of movement at the trade deadline and home fans booing the team,

"It's frustrating, but understandable," ex-coach Ron Wilson said. "We didn't do anything at the trade deadline and we came out tentative to say the least. We talked ad nauseum to the team about the (last) 20 games and finding our focus and we weren't ready to start the game."

Panthers @ Maple Leafs 02/28/12 (via NHLVideo)

In Florida's last game, Jose Theodore stopped all 34 Carolina shots for his third shutout of the season (and 33rd overall). Despite a great effort for the Canes, Cam Ward took the loss, stopping 31-of-32 shots. Tomas Fleischmann (22) tied Kris Versteeg for the team lead in goals scored in the second period, and Marcel Goc (8) added an empty netter to seal the victory. Theodore talked later about peaking at just the right time of the season,

"The last 25 games, that's what you play for," Theodore said. "It's the most fun of the year and you want to make the best of it. Right now as a team, we're responding well."

Hurricanes @ Panthers 03/11/12 (via NHLVideo)

Toronto is coming off a 2-0 blanking at the hands of the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Michal Neuvirth stopped 23 shots for the shutout, and Jonas Gustavsson allowed both goals on 23 Capitals shots for the loss. Brooks Laich (14) and Mathieu Perrault (12) provided the Capitals offense. New Toronto coach Randy Carlyle spoke about the lack of offense on the Maple Leafs part afterward,

"Are we sacrificing risk hockey for offense? Yeah, I would agree with that," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "I believe that the teams that play better defense, usually the offense comes around. We are starving for offense right now; we need a bounce to go our way. It's not like we are not creating quality scoring chances; we are creating them."

Maple Leafs @ Capitals 03/11/12 (via NHLVideo)

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Standings:

Florida Panthers: 32-23-13, 77 points, first Southeast Division, third Eastern Conference, 16th NHL, on pace for 93 points. Last five: L-W-L-O-W. Playoff odds: 84.8%

Toronto Maple Leafs: 30-31-8, 68 points, fourth Northeast Division, 12th Eastern Conference, 24th NHL, on pace for 81 points. Last five: W-L-L-O-L. Playoff odds: 2.5%