The Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs meet Tuesday in NHL action at the Scotiabank Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The Florida Panthers Preview
The Florida Panthers are averaging 3.2 goals per game and are scoring on 22.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Matthew Tkachuk leads Florida with 22 goals, Brandon Montour has 28 assists and Sam Bennett has 140 shots on goal. Defensively, the Florida Panthers are allowing 3.4 goals per game and are killing 75.2 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Sergei Bobrovsky has given up 85 goals on 835 shots faced, and Spencer Knight has allowed 55 goals on 586 shots.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Preview
The Toronto Maple Leafs are averaging 3.3 goals per game and are scoring on 24.6 percent of their power play opportunities. William Nylander leads Toronto with 22 goals, Mitchell Marner has 36 assists and Auston Matthews has 176 shots on goal. Defensively, the Toronto Maple Leafs are allowing 2.6 goals per game and are killing 78.5 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Matt Murray has given up 46 goals on 553 shots faced, and Ilya Samsonov has allowed 39 goals on 453 shots.
Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs Trends
The Panthers are 0-4 in their last 4 games playing on 0 days rest and 2-5 in their last 7 road games. The Maple Leafs are 46-17 in their last 63 home games and 49-24 in their last 73 games playing on 2 days rest. The under is 3-1-1 in Panthers last 5 overall. The under is 16-7 in Maple Leafs last 23 home games. The Panthers are 1-8 in the last 9 meetings in Toronto. The home team is 16-5 in the last 21 meetings.
Randy’s Free Pick
The Toronto Maple Leafs probably aren’t a team you should step in front of right now, and the Panthers have been hard to trust all year. With that said, the Panthers are quietly putting a few nice wins together, and their win yesterday over the Sabres looked a little like the team from last year. Maybe we’re seeing this team figure things out a bit. The Maple Leafs should be favored, but I’ll take a stab with the road dog.