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Panthers hope to sustain momentum vs. Maple Leafs

Feb 3, 2009 - 3:06 PM Florida (23-18-8) at Toronto (19-23-8) 7:30 p.m. EST

TORONTO (Ticker) -- Coming off their best month of the season, the Florida Panthers begin February looking to sustain their recent momentum.

That all starts on Tuesday, as the Panthers continue a four-game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Panthers were 7-2-3 in January, pulling to within one point of the final playoff spot in the process. The franchise hasn't advanced to the postseason since the 1999-2000 campaign, when it was swept in the first round by the eventual champion New Jersey Devils.

Toronto is on a playoff drought of its own - the club has not made the postseason since 2003-04 and are facing long odds to snap that trend as they are 11th in the Eastern Conference standings.

As they get set to face one of the league's hottest teams, they're going to be need a much better showing than the last time the two clubs met.

In a January 6 meeting in Toronto, the Panthers jumped out in front early as Stephen Weiss and Ville Peltonen registered first-period tallies. Michael Frolik added a goal in the second and the Panthers hung on. That game was part of an eight-game stretch in which Florida registered at least one point, going 5-0-3 during that span.