PANTHERS (26-24-6) at MAPLE LEAFS (36-20-5) 7 p.m. ET; SNO, FS-F, NHL.TV
Toronto has scored four goals or more in four of their past seven games and trail the Boston Bruins by three points for second in the Atlantic Division. They are 19 points ahead of the fourth-place Panthers, though Florida holds five games in hand. The Panthers, who lost 7-2 to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, trail the Carolina Hurricanes by six points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and hold four games in hand. They have scored four goals or more in three of the past four games and will try for their eighth win in their past 10.
Players to watch
Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak. Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews scored the game-winning goal with 31 seconds left in the third period in a 3-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. He has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in his past 14 games.
They said it
"They're a very highly offensive team, very skilled. It's going to be a group effort tonight starting from myself and our d-men in front doing a good job. They will make plays, that's inevitable but if we take away their time and space as much as possible, it will make my job a little bit easier." -- Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo "They're playing well and they're chasing a playoff spot and we know just by going through what we went through how dangerous we felt we were last year when we weren't in and we were battling to get in plus they have elite players. It's like every night; it's going to be tough." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock
Bozak did not participate in the morning skate but Babcock says he will play.
Stat pack
Dadonov has six points (four goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak… Ekblad has eight points (three goals, five assists) his past seven games… Trocheck has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in his past 15 games… Marner has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in his past 14 games… Kadri has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in his past 14 games.
