MAPLE LEAFS (13-6-2) at PANTHERS (12-9-1)
7:30 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, SNW, SNO, SN1
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Nicholas Robertson -- Pontus Holmberg -- William Nylander
Bobby McMann -- John Tavares -- Mitch Marner
Nikita Grebenkin -- Fraser Minten -- Alex Nylander
Alex Steeves -- Connor Dewar -- Steven Lorentz
Morgan Rielly -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe -- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Conor Timmins
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
Scratched: Jani Hakanpaa
Injured: Auston Matthews (upper body), David Kampf (lower body), Max Pacioretty (lower body), Calle Jarnkrok (lower body), Max Domi (lower body), Matthew Knies (upper body), Dakota Mermis (upper body)
Suspended: Ryan Reaves
Panthers projected lineup
Evan Rodrigues -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer -- Tomas Nosek -- Jonah Gadjovich
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Dmitry Kulikov
Nate Schmidt -- Uvis Balinskis
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Scratched: Adam Boqvist, Jesper Boqvist
Status report
Matthews will miss his ninth consecutive game; the center skated Wednesday for a third straight day after returning from a five-day trip to Germany for medical consultation. “It’s not a healing thing," Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said Wednesday. "It’s stamina, getting up to speed and making sure he is ready. We want to make sure he is comfortable and ready to go." ... Reaves, a forward, will serve the third of his five-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse during a 4-3 overtime win on Nov. 16. ... Lundell will be a game-time decision after taking a puck in the face during a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday, Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday; Lundell was wearing a full bubble mask during Florida's morning skate.
