The Maple Leafs hope to move four clear of the Lightning at the top of the Atlantic — and open an insurmountable eight-point lead over the Panthers, with a game in hand — as they close out the regular-season series against a partially healthier version of the Panthers tonight in Florida (7:00 p.m. EST, TSN4).
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on the takeaways from the Leafs‘ win over Florida last week:
You need patience against this team. They check extremely well and are in your face extremely well. There is not a lot of room. You are going to have to be patient. Simple puck plays are important tonight: putting pucks in behind them and getting pucks out of your zone. Those little things are crucial.
We did a good job of it for all of the game (in Toronto), and we got a couple of good opportunities in the third. We capitalize on them. There were a lot of things we did well, but those are key for me.
Steven Lorentz on whether he met up with any former Panthers teammates:
Nope. I tried to keep it internal. It is no secret what is going on in the standings. It is a battle right now.
I wouldn’t hold it against a guy if he was going to see someone on the other team, but at this time of year, I want to keep everything internal. You want your group to be as tight as possible.
This is our group. I want to keep it inside the group.
John Tavares on the importance of this game:
Big points. They can really sway things. But we also want to keep building on our game. There have been a lot of good things of late.
We know the challenge they are going to present. We know how difficult they make it on you and the level we have to play at.
It is about being poised and consistent, competing hard, and fighting for room out there. They don’t give you much of it, and we don’t want to give them much, either.
Brad Marchand on what the Leafs acquired in Brandon Carlo:
You got a scumbag.
No, I love Brando. They got an incredible teammate in the locker room. Great competitor. He is one of the best defensemen at killing plays and has one of the best sticks in the league. He is a steady guy who can log a ton of minutes. He wants to win and competes at a very high level.
They got an incredible player back there, and they got him on term, too. It’s a huge pickup for them.
Marchand on facing the Leafs late in the season:
It is always big. We are close to playoffs, and we don’t know how it is going to shape up. We could face them in the first round.
We know the type of team they are. They know the type of team we are. We are both going to try to have our best games. Both teams are going to want to send a message of what we would bring if we match up in playoffs.
There is also the position in the standings that we are all chasing. It just makes for an intense game. Any time you play teams you could face in the playoffs this close to the end, the intensity is always raised. It is usually pretty physical, and they’re very tight games.
It should be a lot of fun to be a part of.
Marchand on the Panthers’ recent dip in form and whether the results matter in the final few games of the regular season:
The biggest thing is making sure we are playing well entering the playoffs. We have lost some games lately, but if you look at the way we are losing, we are playing strong hockey. We are giving up a couple of opportunities per game and running into some hot goalies.
If we continue to play the way we are, forecheck the way we are, and close the way this team has all year, we are going to be a tough team to play. We know we are putting a good game together. The guys who are coming in are playing well. We just have to keep building.
It all depends on how you win or lose. If you play well, are doing all of the right things, and are playing a good game, eventually, the wins are going to come. It is always about the process. If you look at really good teams, that is always their focus. It is not the outcome. It is about the process and the way that you win or lose. That is what guys are focused on here.
If we are playing the way we are supposed to, playing physical and playing tight, eventually, it is going to go our way, and we are going to get the bounces. It hasn’t necessarily gone that way, but if you are out there trying to make plays through the neutral zone, turning pucks over, and losing that way — or even if you are winning that way — you can’t be happy about it.
Paul Maurice on what kind of game he is anticipating between the Leafs and Panthers tonight:
Usually, when you fire up these two teams, they just kind of square off a little bit. It is my experience that when you go into these games, you’re thinking it should be a heater tonight that will be intensely played. But primary for both teams is that they are trying to get their game right, feel good, and get ready.
We played Tampa about a month ago. When we played Tampa right before Christmas, it was on. It was quite the affair. Coming to the rink, I thought, “This will be something else tonight.” It was a church game. Nobody was chirping. They were just getting up and down. Both teams actually played the game respectfully.
I think our game is starting to round to where we need to get it. It is starting to become more physical. That might be something that gets the game going tonight, but it won’t be the context of the game. It will be two teams making sure the game is starting to round the way they want it, I think. We’ll see.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (47-25-4) vs. Panthers (44-22-9)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in three out of five offensive categories, but Florida holds the advantage in four out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#74 Bobby McMann — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#24 Scott Laughton — #11 Max Domi — #19 Calle Jarnkrok
#18 Steven Lorentz — #29 Pontus Holmberg — #89 Nick Robertson
Defensemen
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #25 Brandon Carlo
#2 Simon Benoit — #51 Philippe Myers
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#41 Anthony Stolarz
Injured: Jake McCabe, David Kampf
Injured (LTIR): Jani Hakanpää, Max Pacioretty
Florida Panthers Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Carter Verhaeghe — #16 Aleksander Barkov — #13 Sam Reinhart
#27 Eetu Luostarinen — #15 Anton Lundell — #63 Brad Marchand
#20 Jesse Puljujarvi — 17 Evan Rodrigues — #25 Mackie Samoskevich
#10 AJ Greer — #92 Thomas Nosek — #12 Jonah Gadjovich
Defensemen
#42 Gustav Forsling — #88 Nate Schmidt
#77 Niko Mikkola — #3 Seth Jones
#6 Jaycob Magna — #26 Uvis Balinskis
Goaltenders
Starter: #72 Sergei Bobrovsky
#41 Vitek Vanecek
Injured/Out: Matthew Tkachuk, Dmitry Kulikov, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett, Nico Sturm
