Florida Panthers @ Toronto Maple Leafs
07:00 PM at Scotiabank Arena
Watch on: ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS

Series tied at two-all.

Them

The Panthers had a full morning skate and Evan Rodriques did participate, but not in line rushes. I'm not sure how hard I buy Boqvist going from the pressbox to the top line, but it wouldn't be the first time.

Paul Maurice confirmed the switch.

Lines

Jordan McPherson from morning skate

Jesper Boqvist - Aleksander Barkov - Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe - Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer - Tomas Nosek - Jonah Gadjovich

Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola - Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt - Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek

Us

Oliver Ekman-Larsson did not participate yesterday, but he was reported to be on the ice briefly this morning.

Yesterday's practice saw the lines listed below, with David Kämpf skating on a fifth line with Nick Robertson and Ryan Reaves. It appeared then that no changes would be made.

Who is playing is a game-time decision, per Berube, not related to any injury. I don't expect anything significant, or even at all, to be honest. He is not a change for the sake of change coach.

Lines

David Alter via Daily Faceoff from the last game and yesterday's practice formation as well.

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty - John Tavares - William Nylander
Steven Lorentz - Scott Laughton - Calle Järnkrok
Bobby McMann - Max Domi - Pontus Holmberg

Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Simon Benoit - Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Joe Woll
Matt Murray

The Game

This game seems pivotal. And yet, I will not descend into the false narrative of a "must-win" game. It isn't. It's an "I really would like it if they won" game. It's an "it would be way easier to take the series if they won" game. But we are not yet at must and we may never arrive at that place.

I can't watch this series and distill things down to the just one thing so beloved of sports analysis. Sometimes there's one major factor, for sure, but even in those cases, the game is complex, and I like it that way. I'm not looking to simplify it into a just-so story about who wants it more or who found a way to win.

To win, which each team has done twice, you need everyone to play somewhere close to their best, to make the right risk calculations most of the time, and for fortune to favour you with the outcomes to those risk choices that give you the edge. Or in other words, it's supposed to be this hard to win, this hard to predict.

The only way to win is to play the game.

Go Leafs Go!

Game CoverageMaple Leafs Playoffs