This game was one that meant so much in the standings for both teams. Going into this game, Joel Quenneville‘s Florida Panthers were two points behind Toronto, despite being two games in hand. By the end of the night, Florida jumped Toronto, still with two games in hand.
The game was an uphill challenge from the start for Florida, with captain Aleksander Barkov out following an injury suffered in Montreal. Toronto had also won their last three games coming into this one, and were the better team for the better part of 40 minutes tonight.