The top spot in the Atlantic Division will be on the minds of the Toronto Maple Leafs when they host the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
The Atlantic-leading Maple Leafs (45-25-4, 94 points) enter this crucial contest with a two-point advantage over the Panthers (44-26-4, 92 points) and a one-point lead ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Toronto is 6-1-1 in its past eight games.
After dropping a chance for two points in a 6-5 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, the Maple Leafs defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Saturday before taking out the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 one day later.
“I thought the team competed hard (against Anaheim),” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “I thought we were a little tired and gassed, or it looked like it anyway, but we did a good job defending. We did what we had to do to win the game.”
Mitch Marner, Max Domi and Steven Lorentz each scored a goal and Joseph Woll stopped 29 shots for the Maple Leafs.
Marner extended his point streak to five games (two goals, six assists) with his goal in the second period.
Marner expressed pride in his team’s effort across the three-game California swing.
“It’s not an easy road trip in any way. Three games in four nights, to get used to a three-hour time change,” he said. ” (The) San Jose game wasn’t easy. We made some big mistakes that they counted on, but I thought we battled back to get a point, which is great. And then these last two, both teams very good, very hard to play against. We knew these are important points, we wanted to get them. I’m just happy with us digging in and battling for them.”
The Panthers will present a different challenge for the Maple Leafs, and the Florida squad has recent history on its side by coming out on top in each of the past three meetings. Most recently, Florida posted a 3-2 win over Toronto on March 13.
The Panthers enter the contest on little rest after falling to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday.
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki haunted Florida by scoring the tying goal with 8.4 seconds left in the third period before pocketing the winner just 29 seconds into overtime.
Tuesday represented the Panthers’ second consecutive loss to Montreal. They fell 4-2 to the Canadiens on home ice on Sunday.
Niko Mikkola and Mackie Samoskevich each scored for the Panthers on Tuesday, while Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves in the losing effort.
Sergei Bobrovsky should return to the crease for the Panthers on Wednesday. The two-time Vezina Trophy recipient owns an impressive 15-8-1 career record against Toronto.
Samoskevich had this to say when asked about what the Panthers should expect in Wednesday’s clash with Toronto.
“I’m sure they’ll come out firing, they’ll be feeling good right at the start, so we got to be ready right away and I’m sure the building will be juiced just like this one. So, gotta get our minds right tonight and be ready for tomorrow.”
–Field Level Media
