The Toronto Maple Leafs will faceoff against their last division “rivals” as they face the Florida Panthers.
Even though the gap between Florida and Toronto is 19 points now, they are the closest rival Toronto has left in the Atlantic Division. With 5 games in hand, the Panthers could bring the gap in points back to 9 points, 7 if they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight.
For Florida to actually pull that off, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have to go on a losing streak of at least 10 games and Florida would have to go on a winning streak of 10 games, something that is very unlikely to happen.
Florida Panthers
Calling the Florida Panthers “rivals” at this point in the season might be a bit of an exaggeration but its not like they are a terrible team. They are sitting 6 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes, who are seeded in the second wild-card spot. With 4 games in hand over Carolina, they could still close the gap. But their path to the playoffs is extremely difficult because the Atlantic division is closed off to them now and there are so many teams vying for a playoff spot from the Metro.
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According to the math, done by hockey-reference, Florida has 22.4% chance of making the playoffs at this point. Even though the Panthers have three players who are close to playing a point per game this season in Alexander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, and Jonathan Huberdeau. The Panthers are having a weak season defensively, being tied for fifth in the league for goals against. The injury of their Goaltender Robert Luongo has certainly not helped Florida in that area. Though James Reimer has performed admirably in Florida, considering the circumstances. Their terrible decision to hand the reins of the franchise back to Dale Tallon cannot be said to be paying off.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Sitting third in the Atlantic, life for a Leafs fan is much easier. The biggest problems Leafs fan have had lately is whether we face the Bruins or the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. Not too shabby.
Alas, the deadline-madness doesn’t escape any franchise in the league. When Tyler Bozak missed the morning skate, the internet exploded with rumors. Mike Babcock, however, confirmed Tyler Bozak will play vs the Panthers tonight. If there was really something about to go down, he would be likely kept out of the line-up.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to start a new winning streak tonight. They saw their latest streak end in a loss to Pittsburgh but rebounded against Detroit. The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently 11-3-0 in their latest 14 games. Again, not too shabby.
As for the Leafs lineup, Bozak will play after missing the morning skate and sending the rumour mill into a frenzy. And Roman Polak will draw back in in place of Connor Carrick.
Next: Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Deadline Philosphy
I predict that tonight’s game will result in a victory for the Leafs, who will be looking to keep the pressure on the Bruins and the Lightning.
Enjoy the game!
Stats from hockey-reference, ESPN and naturalstattrick.