TORONTO — The battle for Atlantic Division supremacy enters the home stretch Thursday when the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN4, SCRIPPS).
The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers (40-22-3) currently lead the division with 83 points, two in front of the Maple Leafs (39-22-3) and five ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning (37-23-4). Both Toronto and Tampa Bay hold a game in hand on Florida.
The game marks the first of three meetings between the Maple Leafs and Panthers in the final five weeks of the season. They’ll face each other again in Toronto on April 2 followed by a matchup six days later at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.
The head-to-head games likely will go a…