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(Sports Network) - The playoff hopeful Atlanta Thrashers will try to bounce back when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at Air Canada Centre.

The Thrashers enter tonight two points behind Boston for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins, who play tonight in New Jersey, already hold a game in hand over Atlanta. Boston has seven games left in the regular season compared to six for the Thrashers.

Atlanta, which made its only trip to the postseason in the spring of 2007, has lost three of its last four contests, and on Monday night the Thrashers were defeated by visiting Carolina in the finale of a home-and-home.

Atlanta posted a 4-0 win in Carolina on Sunday but was then dealt a 4-1 setback in the home portion. Jussi Jokinen scored a pair of goals to lift the Hurricanes.

Nik Antropov scored the lone goal for the Thrashers, while Johan Hedberg turned aside 18-of-21 shots in defeat.

"I think it was a tight game between two teams that know each other pretty well," Hedberg said. "It's extremely frustrating. I am sure that everyone feels the same way. We've got another six [games] to go. We've got to make the most of those."

This evening's tilt marks the first of three straight on the road for Atlanta, which is 15-16-6 as the visiting club this year. The Thrashers will make stops in Washington and Pittsburgh to end the swing.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs, who are 15th in the conference, will try to continue to close out their year on a positive note.

Tonight marks Toronto's final game of March, which has been the club's best month this season. The Maple Leafs are 9-4-2 this month and have gained a point in each of their last three games (2-0-1).

Toronto last played Sunday in Pittsburgh and was dealt a loss by the Penguins. Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner in the shootout to help the defending Stanley Cup champions take a 5-4 win at Mellon Arena.

In the second round, Crosby deposited a wrister into the upper right corner. After Marc-Andre Fleury made a pad save on a Nikolai Kulemin shot, Pascal Dupuis sealed the win with a wrister into the upper left corner of the net.

Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who had won five of six coming into the contest. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 41 saves in the loss.

"I think we're playing better with each other and learning how to play as a team," said Kessel. "We're learning how to win games and we just have to carry this over the rest of the season."

Tonight is the first segment of a homestand that will complete Toronto's schedule at Air Canada Centre this season. After the four-game residency, the Leafs, who are 17-15-5 as the host, will complete the year with road tests against the Rangers and Flyers.

The Maple Leafs have taken two of three from the Thrashers this year and Toronto notched a 2-1 overtime victory when the clubs met last Thursday in Atlanta. Mikhail Grabovski scored in OT to give Toronto its seventh win in the last 10 meetings between the clubs. Atlanta has also lost two straight and three of its last four games in Toronto.