MAPLE LEAFS (27-22-9) at PANTHERS (29-25-3)
7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, TSN4, TVAS
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Bobby McMann -- Auston Matthews -- Max Domi
Matias Maccelli -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Matthew Knies -- Nicolas Roy -- Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz -- Scott Laughton -- Dakota Joshua
Morgan Rielly -- Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Simon Benoit -- Troy Stecher
Joseph Woll
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched: Easton Cowan, Phillippe Myers, Calle Jarnkrok
Injured: Dakota Mermis (knee), Chris Tanev (groin)
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer -- Cole Schwindt -- Sandis Vilmanis
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Uvis Balinskis
Donovan Sebrango -- Jeff Petry
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Luke Kunin, Jesper Boqvist, Tobias Bjornfot
Injured: Seth Jones (collarbone), Aleksander Barkov (knee), Tomas Nosek (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder)
Status report
Joshua was activated off long-term injured reserve prior to a 4-2 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday but did not play; coach Craig Berube said he would play in one of the two games on the Florida trip; the forward has missed 20 games because of a lacerated kidney. ... The Panthers will not have any of their long-term injured players back Thursday; Kulikov, a defenseman, could return in the coming days as could Nosek, a forward. Jones, a defenseman, may return next week. … Marchand, Rodrigues, and Ekblad will each play after missing Florida’s final game before the Olympic break, a 6-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 5.
