Toronto Maple Leafs (24-34-11, 30th in NHL) vs. Florida Panthers (40-24-5, 8th in NHL)
Puck drop: 7:30 p.m. ET
Arena: Air Canada Centre
Watch: Sportsnet-Ontario
Game Day Notes
– The Maple Leafs hit the 70-game mark seeking their third consecutive win for just the third time this season. They last won three in a row vs. Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Anaheim between December 30 and January 6. The Leafs‘ current two-game win streak is their first since February 2-4.
– William Nylander will play his tenth game of the season tonight, burning year one of his entry-level contract. No concern from Mike Babcock: “Willy could have easily made the team since training camp.” Nylander will become an RFA at the end of 2017-18, but still won’t be eligible for unrestricted free agency until age 27.
– Yet another Leafs debut as Connor Brown will make his first regular season NHL appearance, expected to play on a line with Nazem Kadri and Nikita Soshnikov. Brown has 10 points in his last eight AHL games. Leo Komarov is out with a lower-body injury, but it’s not expected to trouble him long-term. More on Brown’s callup here.
– Jonathan Bernier will start his third consecutive for the first time since early January. Bernier has two consecutive wins, including a shutout, with a .985 save percentage over the two starts. Roberto Luongo — 19-7-2, .972SV% lifetime vs. the Leafs — will start for Florida.
– Tyler Bozak participated in full-contact practice for the first time today but his return date remains unknown.
– The Panthers have defeated the Maple Leafs by a combined 9-2 scoreline in their last two meetings. Florida won the only meeting of the season in Sunrise, scoring five unanswered after Nazem Kadri opened the scoring two minutes into the game.
Who’s Hot
- Jonathan Bernier: 2-0-0, .985 SV%, 1 shutout in last 2 starts
- PA Parenteau: 2 points (2a) in last 2 games
- Michael Grabner: 2 points (1g,1a) in last 2 games
Who’s Cold
- Frank Corrado: 0 points in last 6 games
Matchup Stats
| Stat | Fla | Tor |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 87 | 59 |
| Record % | 0.621 | 0.428 |
| Home Winning % | 0.629 | 0.417 |
| Away Winning % | 0.531 | 0.333 |
| Shootout Winning % | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Goal Differential Per Game | 0.33 | -0.55 |
| Shot Differential Per Game | -1.07 | 0.87 |
| Hits Per Game | 24.3 | 27.3 |
| PIM Per Game | 10.7 | 9.2 |
| Opponent PIM Per Game | 10.8 | 8.5 |
| Goals Per Game | 2.73 | 2.29 |
| Even Strength Goals Per Game | 2.1 | 1.81 |
| Power Play Goals Per Game | 0.59 | 0.46 |
| Shots Per Game | 28.4 | 31.2 |
| Shots Per Goal | 10.4 | 13.6 |
| Team Shooting % | 9.60% | 7.40% |
| Power Play % | 17.10% | 14.80% |
| Goals Against Per Game | 2.4 | 2.84 |
| ES Goals Against Per Game | 1.74 | 2.13 |
| PP Goals Against Per Game | 0.6 | 0.62 |
| Shots Against Per Game | 29.46 | 30.3 |
| Shots Against Per Goal | 12.27 | 10.67 |
| Opp. Team Shooting % | 8.20% | 9.40% |
| Penalty Kill % | 81.70% | 81.00% |
| Save % | 0.919 | 0.906 |
| Goals Against Average | 2.36 | 2.79 |
| Shutouts | 4 | 4 |
| Opponent Save % | 0.904 | 0.927 |
| Opponent Goals Against Average | 2.69 | 2.25 |
| Opponent Shutouts | 4 | 8 |
Mike Babcock Game Day
You sort of were praising Connor Brown the past few weeks. I suppose you were expecting him to be called up at some point. What do you like about what he showed you?
Mike Babcock: He obviously got injured, so that was a big set back. He was our best kid in training camp for sure. Could’ve made the team. Got hurt but trained hard every day, was with our team the whole time he was hurt, basically, with his therapy and in our meetings. Continued to put on size when he was injured, which was positive, and then he went down and got playing good. When everyone else got called up, instead of asking why not him, he just got down to work. I appreciate that. He’s obviously got elite hockey sense. He’s going to be a good NHL player for a long period of time. So we’ll get a chance to see him here tonight and for however long we need him.
I think Bozak and these guys eventually have to come back, so when they come back these guys can’t all be here.
Was there a set back for Leo from yesterday?
Babcock: It’s basically one of those things where if we were playing a playoff game here tonight it might be different, but he wasn’t in a position to feel like he could recover the way he thought he could. Yesterday, the trainers thought he might be alright. I don’t know if he ever thought he would be alright. I think he’s got a better chance to play Saturday.
Zach Hyman was in the Panthers organization for many years. How has he made the transition from the AHL and what do you like about him?
Babcock: He’s a hard-working, honest guy. I knew him good because I’d seen him at Michigan so much. He just works. He does things right. He takes the puck to the net, he’s at the net, he can help good players get the puck back. He plays heavy; a heavy, heavy game. He’s got good speed and tenacity. I don’t even know how fast he is, I just know when he works as hard as he does, you seem fast. So he’s fast. I think he’s done a real good job for us getting Nylander the puck back, which I think is real important – if you play with good players and you can get them the puck back and get to the net and create space for them. He’s a real good penalty killer. He can play net front on the powerplay as time goes on.
What’s your impression of the mood and the atmosphere around the team? Seems like a lot of energy. Obviously you’ve got some new faces via trade, some young guys, and now some wins of late.
Babcock: I think the attitude around the team has been good basically the whole year. We started tough. I think we were 1-9 or 1-10 or something like that. I thought the attitude was good then. I think when Dion got traded that was a big blow. And then when Polak got traded that was a huge blow. You add the two of them, because of they were guys that did it right every day and were big part of our leadership group, I thought it took us a while to recover from that. We seem to have recovered and are playing more organized and better. Now we’ve got a real good Panthers team here that makes lots of team look very ordinary with their size and their speed and their depth, so it will be a good test for us.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Nikita Soshnikov – Nazem Kadri – Connor Brown
PA Parenteau – William Nylander – Zach Hyman
Colin Greening – Brooks Laich – Peter Holland
Milan Michalek – Ben Smith – Michael Grabner
Morgan Rielly – Martin Marincin
Jake Gardiner – Connor Carrick
Rinat Valiev – Frank Corrado
Starting Goalie: Jonathan Bernier
Garret Sparks
Injured: Stephane Robidas (lower body), James van Riemsdyk (broken foot), Joffrey Lupul (sports hernia surgery), Bryon Froese (lower body), Matt Hunwick (lower body), Tyler Bozak (upper body), Brad Boyes, Leo Komarov (lower body)
