Pre-Game Skate (3/29/16): Toronto Maple Leafs @ Florida Panthers

The Panthers are back home for their final extended homestand of the season. It’s a tilt between first and last place teams tonight as the Maple Leafs visit Sunrise.


The Numbers

Team Breakdown

 Florida PanthersToronto Maple Leafs
Record42-24-9 (1st Atlantic)27-37-11 (8th Atlantic)
GF/60 (5v5)2.41.9
GA/60 (5v5)2.02.4
CF/60 (5v5)49.759.0
CA/60 (5v5)51.457.2
PDO (5v5)101.698.8
Power Play17.2% - 44 for 256 (21st)14.6% - 35 for 240 (29th)
Penalty Kill80.8% - 198 for 245 (19th)80.4% - 197 for 245 (22nd)

Individual Leaders

 Florida PanthersToronto Maple Leafs
PointsJaromir Jagr & Jussi Jokinen - 58Nazem Kadri - 41
GoalsJaromir Jagr & Vincent Trocheck - 25Leo Komarov - 19
AssistsJussi Jokinen - 41Nazem Kadri - 27
P1/60 (5v5)Vincent Trocheck - 1.92James van Riemsdyk - 1.41
iCorsi/60 (5v5)Nick Bjugstad - 12.9Nazem Kadri - 19.2
CF% rel (5v5, SA)Jussi Jokinen - +6.6%James van Riemsdyk - +6.4%
PenD (5v5)Aleksander Barkov - +10Nazem Kadri - +11

Goalie Matchup

 Roberto LuongoJonathan Bernier
Record32-18-610-20-3
Sv%.922.906
AvgShDA (feet)32.3235.40
ReboundAg/602.121.21
RushShotAg/602.142.85
GAA2.342.87

* – Stats are courtesy of Corsica.Hockey and Hockey-Reference.com


Projected Lineups

Florida Panthers

#11 Jonathan Huberdeau#16 Aleksander Barkov#68 Jaromir Jagr
#36 Jussi Jokinen#21 Vincent Trocheck#18 Reilly Smith
#26 Teddy Purcell#27 Nick Bjugstad#24 Jiri Hudler
#28 Garrett Wilson#41 Greg McKegg#48 Logan Shaw

#51 Brian Campbell#5 Aaron Ekblad
#7 Dmitry Kulikov#6 Alex Petrovic
#46 Jakub Kindl#3 Steven Kampfer

#1 Roberto Luongo
#35 Al Montoya

Toronto Maple Leafs

#18 Milan Michalek#43 Nazem Kadri#40 Michael Grabner
#11 Zach Hyman#39 William Nylander#15 P-A Parenteau
#16 Connor Brown#42 Tyler Bozak#28 Brad Boyes
#38 Colin Greening#23 Brooks Laich#26 Ben Smith

#52 Martin Marincin#44 Morgan Reilly
#51 Jake Gardiner#8 Connor Carrick
#29 Rinat Valiev#20 Frank Corrado

#45 Jonathan Bernier
#31 Garrett Sparks


The Hat Trick

Shooting From the Backend: A quick, interesting stat. Florida Panthers defensemen combined for a 7.4 iCF/60 through the end of February. Since the beginning of March, however, they are shooting at a clip of 8.80 iCF/60. There is no overriding point here, I just find it interesting that the D has been active enough to individually add more than an shot attempt per 60 minutes.

On Willie Mitchell: The Captain has been in the Panthers news mix recently. Last week it was revealed that some doctors have advised the rugged defenseman to not play due to his history of multiple concussions. Yesterday, he joined the full Panthers practice for the first time in a couple months. He even held a meeting with the players at center ice.

It seems to me the end might be near for Mitchell’s career, and I think that’s a shame. I have statistical misgivings with his play, but from afar he strikes me as a great guy, and someone who the team can rally around. That said, I really hope if the rumblings about concussions are true that he does not put himself in danger. I don’t want to watch a player on the ice with the feeling that even a somewhat innocent looking hit could do big, long-term damage to him.

If he does indeed retire, I hope the Panthers find a way to keep him around.

Not Good, But Not Bad (Lately): With a last place team limping into town tonight, the natural reaction is to think this an easy game for the Panthers. You may want to pump the brakes on that sentiment though. Toronto is 6-4-1 in their last 11 games, and, if you recall, they were within a goal of the Panthers until late in their game a couple weeks ago. At that, the Panthers offense consisted of flukey bounces and empty netters. Nothing is a given in this league. Even a “bad” last place team like Toronto has won 27 games this season.


Closing Thoughts

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About AJ Bruhn

AJ is the Managing Editor of The Sunshine Skate, and can be reached on Twitter below.

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