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Toronto Maple Leafs (14-12-7, 23rd in NHL) vs. Florida Panthers (15-14-6, 22nd in NHL)

Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. EST
Arena: BB&T Center
Watch: Sportsnet


Game Day Notes

– After starting (and winning) both games in the back-to-back before Christmas, Mike Babcock confirmed yesterday that the Leafs will give Frederik Andersen a night off tomorrow. Babcock mentioned that the coaching staff needs to make sure their red-hot starting goaltender gets adequate rest if he’s going to stay healthy, considering he’s never shouldered that type of workload before in his career. Andersen is currently on pace to play 70 games.

Jhonas Enroth rejoined the Toronto Marlies today, meaning we’re looking at Antoine Bibeau’s second start of the season tomorrow in Tampa Bay.

– The Leafs will get Tyler Bozak back in the lineup, where he’ll skate in his familiar spot between JVR and Mitch Marner. William Nylander will join Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov — a combination Babcock has put together frequently on the road — while the red-hot Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews and Connor Brown will remain intact. Byron Froese has been returned to the Marlies, leaving Frederik Gauthier to center the fourth line with Ben Smith still recovering from surgery.

– The Maple Leafs are 2-0-0 in the season series versus Florida after 3-2 and 6-1 wins on home ice in late October and mid-November. The Panthers have since become the talk of the league, firing head coach Gerard Gallant, installing then-GM Tom Rowe behind the bench, and later restoring Dale Tallon’s previous level of authority within the team’s nontraditional management structure. Most recently, owner Vinny Viola left his post as chairman and governor of the club to join the Donald Trump administration.

On the ice, the Panthers have welcomed Nick Bjugstad back to the lineup, but remain without Jonathan Huberdeau (until mid-February) and recently lost Reilly Smith to a concussion in their shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings before the Christmas break. Bjugstad, who has just two points in 16 games since returning to the lineup, has bounced around the lineup. He’s spent time on Dennis Malgin’s left wing on the Panthers third line, played a few games back at his natural center position, and tonight it looks like he’ll take Smith’s spot on the right wing next to Vincent Trochek.

– The Leafs have scored nine goals in their two games against Florida, taking advantage of an overhauled defence group that has been out of sorts in the first half of the season. The Panthers have been better at home (9-6-1) than they’ve been on the road, however, and are allowing 2.5 goals against at the BT&T Center versus 2.8 away from home.


Matchup Stats

Statistics courtesy of SportingCharts.com

StatTorFla
Points3536
Record %0.530.514
Home Winning %0.5880.536
Away Winning %0.4690.417
Shootout Winning %00.429
Goal Differential Per Game0.21-0.31
Shot Differential Per Game1.421.4
Hits Per Game25.421
PIM Per Game11.18.5
Opponent PIM Per Game11.79
Goals Per Game2.942.34
Even Strength Goals Per Game2.31.74
Power Play Goals Per Game0.610.51
Shots Per Game33.831.5
Shots Per Goal11.513.5
Team Shooting %0.0870.074
Power Play %0.1960.149
Goals Against Per Game2.732.66
ES Goals Against Per Game2.092.17
PP Goals Against Per Game0.550.46
Shots Against Per Game32.3630.14
Shots Against Per Goal11.8711.34
Opp. Team Shooting %0.0840.088
Penalty Kill %0.8360.856
Save %0.9160.912
Goals Against Average2.692.59
Shutouts10
Opponent Save %0.9130.926
Opponent Goals Against Average2.92.28
Opponent Shutouts22

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines

Forwards

Leo Komarov – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander
van Riemsdyk  – Tyler Bozak – Mitch Marner
Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – Connor Brown
Matt Martin – Frederik Gauthier – Nikita Soshnikov

Defencemen

Morgan Rielly – Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner – Connor Carrick
Matt Hunwick – Roman Polak

Scratched: Frank Corrado, Josh Leivo
Injured: Martin Marincin, Ben Smith

Goaltenders

Starter: Frederik Andersen (Confirmed)
Backup: Antoine Bibeau


Florida Panthers Projected Lines

Forwards

Seth Griffith – Aleksander Barkov – Jaromir Jagr
Jonathan Marchessault – Vincent Trocheck – Nick Bjugstad
Jussi Jokinen – Denis Malgin – Colton Sceviour
Kyle Rau – Derek MacKenzie – Shawn Thornton

Defencemen

Keith Yandle – Aaron Ekblad
Mark Pysyk – Michael Matheson
Jason Demers – Jakub Kindl

Goaltenders

Starter: Roberto Luongo (Expected)
Backup: James Reimer

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