The Toronto Maple Leafs are 3-3-3 in their past nine games and have fallen one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Center Brian Boyle will face the Lightning for the first time since he was traded by Tampa Bay on Feb. 27. He had 41 goals and 66 points in 212 games with the Lightning. "[You] can't really worry about the emotional side of it, that has to wait for another day," Boyle said. "It's going to be hard. I have some great memories but what are we doing here? We're trying to win games, trying to make the playoffs and this is such a huge game." Coach Mike Babcock said he wants to see a better effort from the Maple Leafs than in a 7-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. "We both find ourselves, at the moment, out of the playoffs," Babcock said. "Anyone who saw the game [Tuesday] knows we let ourselves down. We're looking for a huge response. Their team knows it's a big game too so we're going to have to play well. So let's execute, do what we're supposed to do and compete at a high level. Last game, that never happened." Center Auston Matthews is in a six-game stretch without scoring a point. Center Tyler Bozak will play in his 500th NHL game.
