That we’ve had to wait this long to see these two teams square off this season is a little bizarre, and it’s unfortunate it is coming on the second half of a back-to-back for both clubs, but this should be must-see TV tonight regardless.
Both sides play with a lot of speed and skill and are among the league leaders in all of the KPIs you look for in good NHL teams — even-strength possession numbers, even-strength expected goal share, even-strength shot share, combined special teams — with one key exception: Florida is merely middle of the pack in 5v5 save percentage, while the Leafs remain all the way down in 29th in the category.