Budsfan
Registered User
- Sep 17, 2006
- 19,218
- 1,365
Toronto Maple Leafs at Florida Panthers: Tuesday NHL preview
Auston Matthews looks to snap five-game goal drought vs. sliding Panthers.
https://www.thestar.com/sports/leaf...-at-florida-panthers-tuesday-nhl-preview.html
By Mark ZwolinskiSports reporter
Mon., March 13, 2017
BB&T CENTER
FACEOFF: 7:30 p.m.
TV: TSN4
RADIO: Sportsnet 590 The FAN
KEY MATCHUP
Pysyk/Matthews
Mark Pysyk has been a key factor on the Panthers’ defence, especially on the club’s top-rated penalty kill. He averages 2:49 of ice time per game when the Panthers are short-handed, most on the team, and will likely see a lot of the Leafs’ top forwards. Toronto’s power play ranks second in the NHL, and overall the Leafs sit sixth in goals per game (3.03). Rookie sensation Auston Matthews, goal-less in his last five games, is due.
NEED TO KNOW
The Panthers have lost five straight and eight of nine, dousing their playoff hopes. … Injuries have taken a huge toll. They lost all-star defenceman Aaron Ekblad to a concussion over the weekend, while goalie Roberto Luongo has missed a week so far with an undisclosed injury. Luongo, who might return some time this week, sits two wins shy of surpassing former Leaf Curtis Joseph for fourth on the NHL’s career wins list. . . . Ex-Leaf James Reimer is likely to get the start Tuesday against his old team. He’s lost his last seven starts. … Florida has been getting a lot of mileage out of defenceman Jason Demers, who took 36 shifts for 25:43 of ice time in Saturday’s loss to Tampa. …. At age 45, Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr is four games away from 1,700 in his storied career.
UP NEXT
Thursday at Tampa, 7:30 p.m.
Maple Leafs vs. Panthers: Everything you need to know
By Mike Zeisberger, Toronto Sun
http://www.torontosun.com/2017/03/13/maple-leafs-vs-panthers-everything-you-need-to-know
The essentials for Game 68 of the Leafs schedule...
MAPLE LEAFS at PANTHERS
When: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: BB&T Center
How: TV-TSN, Radio-The Fan 580
THE READING MATERIAL
Mike Zeisberger: Super rookies Matthews, Marner focused on playoff push
Mike Zeisberger: Maple Leafs know fans will pay up
Mike Zeisberger: Florida Panthers' slump not Reimer's fault
THE RECORDS
Toronto — 31-22-14 (76 points; last wild card spot in Eastern Conference)
Florida — 29-27-11 (69 points; 6th place in Atlantic Division)
THE BIG MATCHUP
James van Riemsdyk vs. Keith Yandle
A rejuvenated JVR was one of the Leafs best players in a 3-2 overtime win in Raleigh Saturday, scoring Toronto's second goal and making a nuisance of himself in the face of Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward. At one point, Ward was thrown off his game to the point of taking a baseball hack with his stick at JVR, who was fortunate not to be hit. This time around he'll be facing a Panthers squad that will be without its best defenceman, Aaron Ekblad (concussion). The job of muzzling JVR could now very well fall to Yandle, who has accrued 33 points for the season but can be exploited on the defensive end. Expect the Leafs to attempt to exploit that match
