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Belfour faces former team when Panthers visit Maple Leafs

Oct 9, 2006 - 2:09 PM Florida (1-1-0) at Toronto (1-1-1) 7:30 pm EDT

TORONTO (Ticker) -- Ed Belfour is hoping to bounce back from a disappointing effort when he competes against some familiar faces.

Belfour may get the starting assignment in goal for the Florida Panthers when they play the second contest of a two-game road swing Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After going 93-61-4 with 11 ties and a 2.51 ERA in three seasons with Toronto, the 41-year-old Belfour signed as a free agent with Florida after the Maple Leafs acquired Boston Bruins goaltender Andrew Raycroft.

Belfour is second on the all-time victories list (457) and helped the Dallas Stars win the Stanley Cup in 1999. However, he missed the final 19 games of last season with a herniated disk in his back

After the Panthers opened the campaign with Thursday's 8-3 triumph over Boston, Belfour yielded four goals on just nine shots before being replaced by Alex Auld in the second period of Saturday's 6-0 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers.

Toronto opened the season by splitting two games with the Ottawa Senators before absorbing a 5-4 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

Darcy Tucker scored his third goal of the campaign in the opening period and Matt Stajan added his first in the second session for the Maple Leafs, who won all four encounters with Florida last season.