Maple Leafs Confirm What Many Had Suspected Ahead of Clash with Panthers

The Toronto Maple Leafs woke up on Wednesday morning with a 2-point lead in the Atlantic Division with an equal number of games remaining (8) to that of the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning -- the two teams who are nipping at their heels.

With the Florida Panthers having lost their second consecutive game to the suddenly hot Montreal Canadiens, they have watched their games-in-hand on the Leafs dissipate. Now, there's a real race for the top spot, which makes tonight's game in Toronto all the more important for both teams.

Leafs sophomore Matthew Knies not only expects tonight's game to be a playoff-type game, but he also issued a bit of a challenge to his teammates heading into the playoffs.

On Tuesday, the Leafs held a brief practice, showcasing their expected line combinations, and revealing Anthony Stolarz as the projected starter for tonight's game. Now, we have our confirmation on that, thanks to the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan.

If the Leafs can beat the Panthers tonight, it will eat up yet another game that the Panthers could have otherwise used to close some distance on the Atlantic Division leaders. It will also give the Leafs a 4-point cushion on their divisional foe.

The Leafs recently returned from a 3-game California road trip, and are coming into tonight's game with two days of rest, while the Panthers will be playing in their second half of a back-to-back after losing in Montreal last night. Let's hope the Leafs can use that to their advantage.