Panthers at Maple Leafs
THE STORY: The Florida Panthers travel to Toronto to take on the
Maple Leafs on Tuesday for the third of four meetings. The Panthers were
victorious in both previous matchups. The Panthers are seeking a third
straight victory overall, while the Maple Leafs have lost four
consecutive games. Toronto is 1-7-1 in its last nine contests.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Panthers), SNET (Maple Leafs)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (29-20-12): General manager Dale Tallon acquired
center Jerred Smithson from Nashville on Friday and forward Wojtek
Wolski from the New York Rangers on Saturday. The Southeast-leading
Panthers didn’t make any other moves before the trade deadline. "We made
a lot of phone calls," Tallon said Monday afternoon. "We had identified
what we wanted to add to our lineup and we were unable to get exactly
what we wanted to get without mortgaging our future. We tried and tried
to keep improving and adding."
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (29-26-7):
The Maple Leafs made two trades Monday. General manager Brian Burke
dealt defenseman Keith Aulie to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward
Carter Ashton. The 6-foot-3 forward has 19 goals and 16 assists in 56
games with the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL this season. Burke replaced
Aulie on the blue line by dealing forward Dale Mitchell to the Anaheim
Ducks for defenseman Mark Fraser. "It is a tough time of year for guys
playing in a big market like this and hearing [trade] stuff day in and
day out," captain Dion Phaneuf said prior to the deadline. “We’re going
to come back with the right attitude and we've got to win hockey games -
that's the bottom line."
OVERTIME:
1. The Panthers are 10-2-2 against Canadian teams this season.
2. Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel has recorded at least one point in nine of 12 games in February (14 points).
3. Florida goaltender Jose Theodore has allowed two goals or less in his last six appearances,