Florida

Panthers Fall to Maple Leafs

The Panthers were unable to keep the wins coming as they lost to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday

The Florida Panthers missed a chance to take over the Atlantic Division with their 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

Florida entered Tuesday's action locked in a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning with its 93 points. Both teams have six games left on the schedule and neither has clinched a playoff berth as of yet. While Florida is in a decent position at thus juncture, it may still need points to guarantee a return to the postseason.

This is the type of game that playoff hopeful teams sometimes fear as Toronto represented a team with nothing to lose. The Maple Leafs are already eliminated from playoff contention and were able to play a little more free and easy than the Panthers.

Roberto Luongo followed up a strong effort in Florida's last game with a sub par outing in this one. The goalie was only able to stop 23 shots despite having a minimal amount of attempts fired his way. All told, Toronto only had 27 attempts in the game.

Florida's first goal of the game came courtesy of Jonathan Huberdeau at the 6:23 mark of the second period. The goal was the 16th of the season for Huberdeau and came with an assist from Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr.

The Panthers would add a second goal in the third period while down by three. Greg McKegg's first goal of the year made it a 4-2 game and came with an assist from Teddy Purcell and Alex Petrovic.

Toronto did a solid job of the opportunities it was given, while Florida did not. In its four power play chances, Toronto converted three goals. The Panthers conversely were stopped in all three of their man-advantage situations.

Up next for the Panthers will be the New Jersey Devils on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

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