Maple Leafs shoot to expand division lead at Panthers' expense

The Toronto Maple Leafs aim for a repeat win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night in Sunrise, Fla., that would tighten their grip on the Atlantic Division lead.

The Maple Leafs (47-25-4, 98 points) entered Monday four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning and six ahead of the Panthers (44-29-4, 92 points). Toronto will play Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

The Maple Leafs defeated the short-handed Panthers 3-2 last Wednesday at Toronto, their first win in three games against Florida this season.

The Panthers took a 2-1 road loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, their fifth straight defeat as they continued to play with a depleted roster. Among the missing were Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk with upper-body injuries, Nico Sturm (undisclosed) and Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Gustav Forsling. That trio was rested on Sunday.

"You want every advantage you can get, home ice and all that, but we've got to heal these guys," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "We have to give ourselves a chance to play physically in the playoffs and our schedule won't allow that right now."

Rasmus Asplund, Jesse Puljujarvi and Matt Kiersted were recalled from AHL affiliate Charlotte and thrown into the fire Sunday. For Kiersted, it was his first NHL appearance since Dec. 23, 2022.

"We had guys come in and do a really good job," said Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich, who had an assist. "It was almost seamless. They played great and fit into the game right away."

The Panthers avoided being shut out in two straight games when Anton Lundell scored at 19:20 of the third period. They had lost 3-0 to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

"It was good when you're considering how we measure ourselves with what we give up, regardless of who's in the lineup," Maurice said.

"I wouldn't say it matters where we end up," Samoskevich said. "You've got to beat everybody if you're going to win it all. I think it's just not opening up our game, staying tight and working on our forecheck. That's what works in the playoffs. I think we're doing that right now."

The Maple Leafs followed up their win over the Panthers with a 5-0 home victory Saturday over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

William Nylander and Nicholas Robertson scored twice apiece. Mitchell Marner had his career-best 70th assist to extend his points streak to seven games (three goals, eight assists).

"Our third period, I thought we were extremely disciplined, didn't sit back," said Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who made 27 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and the 10th of his career. "We continued to forecheck them, press their defense and force them to turn pucks over and that allowed us to get open ice and score some goals and defensively, I thought we were fantastic. We didn't really give up any chances."

Columbus had defeated Toronto in the two previous meetings between the teams. This time, Toronto played the type of disciplined game required in the playoffs.

"Staying in games, tight games where it's tight checking," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "Not opening it up, not forcing things and getting frustrated and then taking it over in the third period. That's the biggest thing I can tell you about what I like right now."

Toronto's Jake McCabe and David Kampf were on the ice for the optional practice on Monday, but will not travel to Florida.

--Field Level Media