Toronto @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 3, 2020 ) Florida 5, Toronto 3

Third place in the Atlantic Division is on the line when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday night after both teams came away with impressive one-goal wins last time out. Toronto rebounded from an embarrassing loss to an emergency goalie by winning 4-3 at Tampa Bay on Tuesday while the Panthers remained two points behind the Maple Leafs with a 2-1 win at Arizona the same night.

Captain John Tavares scored twice in the victory, giving him five points in his last three games, as Toronto recorded two power-play goals and held on tight in the third period as the Lightning surged. “Just sticking with it,” Tavares told reporters of what he liked about the team’s performance. “We didn’t get down. We didn’t get away from the way we needed to play when things didn’t go our way. We did a lot of good things tonight, in terms of the way we want to play the game, to our identity.” The Panthers won the first two contests on their west coast trip before dropping games against Vegas and Los Angeles, but Sergei Bobrovsky made 37 saves and Florida rallied to grind out a key road victory over the Coyotes. “Today was a team win,” Bobrovsky told reporters after earning his 23rd victory - his third in four games. “They blocked shots, they finished checks, they back checked. It was smart defense, smart puck management.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Florida, TSN4, TVA

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (33-23-8): The only downside to Tuesday’s victory was the loss of top-pair defenseman Jake Muzzin, who scored the team’s first goal before suffering a broken hand that will keep him out as long as four weeks. “We really are going to have to embrace the next-man up (mentality),” defenseman Tyson Barrie told reporters. “. … We’re in a spot where we can’t let that affect the way we’re playing. It will be a big test for us.” Auston Matthews had an assist Tuesday and leads the team with 74 points while William Nylander scored once and set up another to push his totals to 28 goals and 56 points.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (33-24-6): Left wing Mike Hoffman scored the winner and set up another tally Tuesday, giving him goals in three straight contests and four to go along with three assists during a five-game point streak. Hoffman is tied with right wing Evgenii Dadonov for the team lead with 25 goals while left wing Jonathan Huberdeau had an assist Tuesday to boost his team-leading total to 77 points - 15 more than captain Aleksander Barkov, who has scored three times and set up three others during a five-game point streak. Erik Haula was a plus-1 and fellow center Lucas Wallmark had a shot with two hits in their team debuts Tuesday.

OVERTIME

1. Florida D Mike Matheson logged 14 minutes, 29 seconds of ice time Tuesday after missing three games because of illness.

2. Toronto on Tuesday recalled D Calle Rosen, who was reacquired from Colorado on Monday for G Michael Hutchinson.

3. The Panthers have won both matchups this season, including 8-4 at home Jan. 4.

PREDICTION: Panthers 4, Maple Leafs 3