Mar 13, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (91) looks for the puck in front of Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. (Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/d22c0287-f848-4540-9517-8103d49dafb7.jpeg] Mar 13, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (91) looks for the puck in front of Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. (Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images) It’s been a rough few weeks for the Florida Panthers. After winning seven straight games between late February and early March, the Panthers have sauntered through a 4-5-1 that has seen them leave several points on the shelf. A team that had been one of the best when it came to locking down late leads has become anything but. Tuesday night’s debacle in Montreal, which was more the result of a fluky bounce than poor play on Florida’s part, was the latest in a string of frustrating losses that saw the Panthers relinquish a late lead. Now they’ll have to have a short memory, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as they’ll go to battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs in a game with rather large implications in the standings. Entering play Wednesday, Toronto holds the top spot in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of Tampa Bay and two clear of Florida. Each team has eight games remaining on their respective schedules. Toronto has won six of their past eight games and is fresh off a three-game California road trip that ended with wins in Los Angeles and Anaheim over the weekend. A win by Toronto would go a long way toward keeping them ahead of Florida for good, though the teams do play again on Tuesday in Sunrise. Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Wednesday’s battle in Toronto: Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Evan Rodrigues Gus Forsling – Seth Jones Niko Mikkola – Nate Schmidt Tobias Bjornfot – Uvis Balinskis Scratches: Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek, Dmitry Kulikov LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Three takeaways: 'Bad break' goal ruins strong outing from Panthers in Montreal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-bad-break-goal-ruins-strong-outing-from-panthers-in-montreal] Panthers blow another late lead, fall 3-2 in overtime to Montreal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-blow-another-late-lead-fall-3-2-in-overtime-to-montreal] Fireworks possible in rematch between Panthers and Canadiens that comes with major playoff implications [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/fireworks-possible-in-rematch-between-panthers-and-canadiens-that-comes-with-major-playoff-implications] Matthew Tkachuk resumes skating, Panthers still targeting opening round of playoffs for return [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/matthew-tkachuk-resumes-skating-panthers-still-targeting-opening-round-of-playoffs-for-return] NHL fines Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola for final-second slapshot toward Montreal players [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/nhl-fines-panthers-defenseman-niko-mikkola-for-final-second-slapshot-toward-montreal-players]
