Maple Leafs Could be in Trouble Tonight With Referees Announced for Game 3

The Toronto Maple Leafs could be in danger of facing some tough calls tonight with the officiating crew revealed ahead of Game 3 against the Florida Panthers.

The Maple Leafs have a chance to place the defending Stanley Cup champions on the brink of elimination tonight with a victory in enemy territory.

After a 5-4 victory in Game 1, the Maple Leafs pulled through with another 1-goal win in Game 2 by a score of 4-3. Now with the scene shifting to Florida, the Leafs need to hunker down even more and claim perhaps the hardest victory of their post-season run.

The Maple Leafs were fortunate enough to have Dan O’Rourke and Francois St-Laurent the previous game but won’t be afforded that luxury tonight with Wes McCauley and TJ Luxmore in charge. Trent Knorr and Scott Cherrey will be the linespersons.

The veteran duo of McCauley and Luxmore have 2,165 regular season games under their belt and an additional 246 post-season games. Knorr and Cherrey have been apart of a combined 2,200 games, which adds to the veteran crew for tonight’s contest.

The unfortunate part for the Leafs is that McCauley isn’t generally a fan favourite and his 0-3-0 record this year doesn’t help the cause. Conversely, the Leafs have posted a 3-3-0 record for Luxmore, whereas the Panthers are a favourable 6-1-0 when he’s officiating.

This will be the second game where Luxmore and McCauley have been paired together with the first one coming earlier in the second round during the first game of the Washington and Carolina series. However, they have each officiated a game for the Panthers during the first round with McCauley being around for a 5-1 defeat and Luxmore being apart of a 6-2 win.

The Maple Leafs will try to keep their cool tonight and stay far away from the penalty box but that will be easier said than done with the Panthers more than likely looking to goad their star players.