Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Toronto Maple Leafs (30-21-6, 66 points) and Florida Panthers (21-27-7, 49 points) skate against each other live from the BB&T Center in Florida for the third of four meetings against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. Toronto fans can hear all of the action on TSN 1050 while Florida fans can do the same thing on WQAM 560.
Toronto is 10-1-1 in its last 12 games while Florida has lost three straight. The first two times these teams met, they've split victories with the Panthers earning a 3-1 win in Toronto on Dec. 17 and the Maple Leafs prevailing 6-3 on Jan. 30 also in Toronto.
The Maple Leafs are coming off of a 6-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday that saw leading scorer Phil Kessel notch a hat trick.
"When you give him chances, he has the ability to find the back of the net," coach Randy Carlyle said via NHL.com. "He's a shooter, that's for sure. There's always been a lot of them around the League and he's been classified as [a one-dimensional] player, but we think he has more of an all-around ability. He can distribute the puck, pass it, find people, do a lot more than just shoot."
Kessel has 61 points off of 30 goals and 31 assists while James van Riemsdyk has 22 tallies and 23 helpers for 55 points and Nazem Kadri--who is on a three-game point streak--has lit the lamp 15 times and added 25 assists for 40 points.
The Panthers are coming off of a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, and while the team currently sits in 14th place in the Eastern Conference, goaltender Tim Thomas said he is open to returning.
"I'm certainly willing to entertain the idea. I haven't talked to the club about that," Thomas said via NHL.com. "I was hoping by this time to be seeing more team success. That's been a little bit difficult. Having said that, it's a process. I knew coming into it where the team was last year. I bought into this process, and what we're trying to do is turn it around."
Thomas is 14-16-3 this season with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage this season. If he starts tonight, he'll likely be opposed by Jonathan Bernier, who is 20-15-5 with a 2.62 GAA and a .925 save percentage.
If Bernier does get the nod, he'll look to stop a Florida unit that is led by Brad Boyes, who has three goals in his last four games and a team-high 26 points off of 15 goals and 11 assists while Scottie Upshall has nine markers and 16 helpers for 25 points and Aleksander Barkov (eight goals, 16 assists) and Tom Gilbert (two goals, 22 assists) each have 24 points.
The Maple Leafs look for their 11th win in 13 games while the Panthers try to avoid dropping a fourth straight game when these teams hit the ice tonight at the BB&T Center in Florida.
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