Paul Bissonnette Accuses the Florida Panthers of Tanking to Mess with the Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs, the Florida Panthers, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are all in the hunt to win the Atlantic Division.

However, the Panthers have taken a big nosedive as of late as they are now six points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and after a loss tonight, have fallen in five games in a row.

In fact, the Ottawa Senators are on the up and up and with a win tonight, are now just two points back of the Panthers for third in the Atlantic Division. Simply put, the Panthers could be placed into the Wild Card scheme.

If that were to happen, and the Maple Leafs were to win the division, then they would get stuck playing the Panthers in the first round, right when Florida is expected to get their injured players back.

On paper, the Senators are a better team to play given the fact that the Panthers are the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Although, the Senators are on a roll which can be scary during this time of year.

Regardless, TNT analyst Paul Bissonnette believes something shady is going on here.

During today's NHL on TNT broadcast, he accused the Florida Panthers of tanking so that they could play against the Leafs in the first round.

Notoriously, the Leafs are chokers in the playoffs and the Panthers could theoretically look to pounce on that.

However, tanking is a big accusation and it is not something that is advisable at this point in the NHL season. That said, it is fun to theorize about.

Only time will tell how the playoff picture shapes up and whether or not the Leafs can win the division for the first time in two decades.