TORONTO – While neither team wants to look too far ahead, it’s hard not to take a peek.
With a potential playoff rematch on the horizon, the Florida Panthers will kick off their final road trip of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.
With eight games remaining on their schedule, the Panthers (47-22-5, 99 points) would play the Maple Leafs (42-22-9, 93 points) in Round 1 of the playoffs if the season ended today.
Last season, they knocked the Maple Leafs out of the playoffs in five games in Round 2.
“It’s a fun place for us to play,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “It’s kind of that last little stretch before going into playoffs. A big road trip for our team here to set up our game. We’re playing against a very good team, so it should be a very good game.”
But with a rematch with the Maple Leafs far from set in stone, the Panthers are still in contention for a bigger prize as they enter tonight’s matchup trailing the Boston Bruins (43-17-15, 101 points) by just two points for first in the Atlantic Division with a game in hand.
Getting their mojo back in their last outing, the Panthers, overcoming a second straight game of lopsided calls, earned a 3-2 shootout win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Leading the charge up front, Aleksander Barkov scored a pair of goals against the Red Wings to become the franchise’s all-time leader in multi-goal games (32), while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 22 shots to improve to 33-16-3, the third-most wins in the NHL.
Despite a 6-1 advantage for the Red Wings in trips to the power play, the Panthers still dominated in all situations, leading 34-18 in scoring chance and 91-40 in shot attempts.
“That’s huge,” Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said. “We’ve been doing some good things and sometimes it’s tough to see when the wins aren’t there. It certainly relaxes the mood a little bit. I think getting back on the road today and yesterday has been important for us.”
Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (51) and points (86). Tkachuk sits in second with 79 points (23 goals, 56 assists), while Barkov is third with 71 points (21 goals, 50 assists). Carter Verhaeghe has 70 points, including a team-high 49 at even-strength.
Owning a .925 save percentage over his past 19 games, Bobrovsky will be in net tonight.
Holding a four-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division, the Maple Leafs have won four of their last five games, including blanking the lottery-bound Buffalo Sabres 3-0 on Saturday at KeyBank Center.
Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 60th goal of the season in the win, while Ilya Samsonov stopped all 34 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season.
Matthews is the NHL’s first two-time 60-goal scorer in 30 years.
“It means a lot, obviously. This is much of a team accomplishment in my opinion as an individual one,” Matthews told reporters after the win over the Sabres. “It’s always a fun atmosphere here with all the blue and white in the stands. Definitely pretty cool.”
Sharing first place atop the team’s points leaderboard, Matthews and William Nylander have each recorded 95 points. Third on the team in scoring, Mitch Marner, the third piece of Toronto’s “Big 3” group of high-scoring forwards, has logged 76 points (25 goals, 51 assists).
Marner has been out of the lineup since March 7 when he suffered a lower-body injury in a game against the Bruins. Not expected to play tonight, he was placed on LTIR on Saturday to free up some cap space for Toronto to recall defenseman Marshall Rifai from the AHL.
The Maple Leafs are also missing three key pieces on defense as Morgan Rielly (upper body), Joel Edmundson (undisclosed) and Timothy Liljegren (upper body) are all unavailable due to injuries.
Samsonov, who boasts a 12-2-1 record in his last 15 appearances, will be between the pipes tonight for Toronto.
“We’ve got a certain style of hockey that we play, and they have one,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re both going to play it tonight. … We’re going to play hard; they’re going to play hard.”
The penultimate matchup of their season series, the Panthers are 1-0-1 against the Maple Leafs, winning 3-1 in Sunrise on Oct. 19 and losing 2-1 in a shootout in Toronto on Nov. 28.
Their final regular-season battle will come at Amerant Bank Arena on April 16 in Game 82.
A clash between top teams, tonight’s matchup will pit Toronto’s third-ranked offense (3.62 goals per game) against Florida’s top-ranked defense (2.43 goals allowed per game).
“I think it’s still a regular-season game,” Maurice said. “They won’t have key pieces in their lineup. I think both teams are just trying to dial it in now and get it as close to their game as they possibly can."
PREGAME QUOTES
“What game is it, 74? He’s got 60 [goals], so nobody has figured out that. … You just hope he scores the next night, not when you’re in town.” – Paul Maurice on Auston Matthews
“These are the types of games you want to be playing at this time of year. You want to be playing your best hockey going into it. We feel the results haven’t quite been there, but we’ve been building the last week.” – Sam Reinhart on facing the Maple Leafs
"We don't mind where our game's at, but I think we've got another level here before playoffs." – Matthew Tkachuk on preparing for the postseason
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers rank tied for first in the NHL with a franchise-record 25 road wins.
- The Panthers own the league’s best penalty kill on the road at 86.3%.
- Sam Reinhart leads the NHL with a franchise-record 27 goals on the power play.
- Carter Verhaeghe has scored three goals in his last five games.
- Aleksander Barkov has produced multiple points in each of his last two games.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues - Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell – Vladimir Tarasenko
Jonah Gadjovich - Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola - Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- March 27: D Uvis Balinskis loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- March 25: F Ben Steeves agreed to terms on a 2-year ELC commencing in 2024-25
- March 21: D Uvis Balinskis recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Monday, April 1 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON
TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Sun, Bally Sports+
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
