TORONTO – In a battle between two teams hoping to win the Atlantic Division, the Florida Panthers will try to take down the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
With roughly a month until the playoffs, the Panthers lead the division with a record of 40-22-3, while the Maple Leafs are nipping at their heels in second with a record of 39-22-3.
This is the first of three meetings remaining between the two clubs.
“It’s going to be a great test,” forward Sam Reinhart said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge. Every time we play each other, it brings out the best and the emotion in both of us.”
Kicking off their road trip in Boston, the Panthers saw their six-game winning streak snapped in a 3-2 loss to the Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday.
Leading 2-0 in the third period, the Panthers uncharacteristically let the Bruins get back into the game, surrendering three goals within a span of less than eight minutes.
Dmitry Kulikov and Mackie Samoskevich scored in the loss, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves. Prior to the Bruins getting on the board in the third period, the Panthers had not allowed a goal in 186:49, which stands as the longest shutout streak in franchise history.
For the Panthers, it was a good late-season lesson.
“No matter what happens, I think this is an important time to learn from it,” Reinhart said. “There’s been a lot of third periods that we’ve liked with the lead, especially lately. You’ve got to take a step back and look at what gave us that result and learn from it.”
Sitting at 27-14-2 with a .907 save percentage, Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to man the crease against the Maple Leafs. Posting shutouts in two of his last four starts, he’s been on quite the roll as of late, going 9-3-0 with a .936 save percentage in his last 12 appearances.
Snapping out of a three-game skid, the Maple Leafs enter tonight’s matchup looking to build off a 4-3 shootout win over the Utah Hockey Club on Monday.
Leading 3-0 on goals from William Nylander, Calle Jarnkrok and Simon Benoit, the Maple Leafs surrendered three straight goals in the second period to end up in overtime.
In the shootout, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner each scored for Toronto.
Adding two key players at last week’s trade deadline, the Maple Leafs now have forward Scott Laughton and defenseman Brandon Carlo in the mix.
Prior to joining Toronto, Laughton had logged 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 60 games with Philadelphia this season, while Carlo had appeared in 72 career playoff games with Boston.
“Two veteran players,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “When you look at it league-wide, the top three teams in each division pretty much did the same thing to bring in some guys that have played playoff hockey or a playoff-style of hockey.”
Marner leads the Maple Leafs in scoring with 80 points (21 goals, 59 assists), while Nylander is second with 66 points (36 goals, 30 assists). Limited to 49 games due to injuries, Matthews sits third in scoring with 56 points, including netting 23 goals.
Anthony Stolarz is expected to get the nod in net for Toronto.
After backing up Bobrovsky during last year’s run to the Stanley Cup, Stolarz has been outstanding during his first season with the Maple Leafs. In 24 appearances, the 31-year-old veteran has posted a 13-6-3 record with a .921 save percentage and one shutout.
In their first meeting this season, the Panthers topped the Maple Leafs by a score of 5-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Nov. 27. Aleksander Barkov led the way for the Panthers up front with a goal and an assist, while Bobrovsky turned aside 23 of 24 shots between the pipes.
While the winner of tonight’s game will move into first place in the division, the Panthers, who are hoping for a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, don’t have a narrow focus.
“We’d look at maybe a bigger picture,” Maurice said. “We’ve got 17 games left, and 15 of them are going to be against teams that are fighting for something. We’ve got three games here with Toronto, one with Tampa, one with Washington, and then we’ve got a whole bunch of games against teams that are truly fighting for their lives. We know it. We’ve got a history of that from two years ago. We went four months with that life. Really good proving ground for these teams to have that kind schedule because every night’s going to be right.”
THEY SAID IT
“When you’re both competing for championships and want to be the last team standing, and certainly when you play each other in a playoff series in the spring, that certainly adds to the atmosphere.” – Sam Reinhart on facing the Maple Leafs
“We had full control of the puck three times, and then didn’t. Those are plays we can execute on. So much of it is what you give them, what you get or what they take from you. That’s it.” – Paul Maurice on Tuesday’s loss to the Bruins
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers have outscored the Maple Leafs 18-11 over their last four matchups.
- Gustav Forsling boasts a team-high +31 plus/minus rating.
- Carter Verhaeghe has scored a team-leading five game-winning goal.
- Aleksander Barkov is winning 58.3% of his faceoffs.
- The Panthers rank second in the NHL with a 55.40 xGF% at 5-on-5.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Jonah Gadjovich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- March 7: Acquired forward Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins for a conditional 2027 second-round selection
- March 6: Acquired Kaapo Kahkonen from the Winnipeg Jets for Chris Driedger
- March 6: Acquired Nico Sturm and a 2027 seventh-round selection from the San Jose Sharks for 2026 fourth-round selection
- March 5: Acquired Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks for Patrick Giles
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON
TV & Streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, ESPN+ (out of market)
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT-AM & 1 WZZR-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Cats on Tap: Click Here
