Florida @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 18, 2019 ) Toronto 1, Florida 3

The Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished their mission of tightening up defensively after yielding 23 goals during a recent four-game stretch, however they've scored just five times to lose two of their last three contests. The Maple Leafs look to get back on track on Monday when they host the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena.

Zach Hyman scored in his second straight game during the third period of Toronto's 2-1 overtime loss versus the New York Rangers on Saturday. Mitch Marner set up Hyman's 19th goal of the season to boost his team-leading totals in assists (62) and points (87) heading into the tilt versus Florida, against which he has scored three goals and set up two others. While Toronto is all but assured of a first-round matchup with Boston, the Panthers' dimming postseason aspirations faded even more after they fell for the third time in four outings with Saturday's 7-3 shellacking against the Bruins. "We beat ourselves, 24 turnovers, and their first four goals came off our sticks on turnovers," Florida coach Bob Boughner told reporters. "It was stupidity and bad turnovers that ended up in the back of our net."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Florida, TSN4 (Toronto)

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (33-30-12): Mike Hoffman has scored in back-to-back contests to extend his career-best totals in goals (35) and points (67). Fellow forward Vincent Trocheck also tallied for his eighth goal of his injury-ravaged season and 99th career, but the 25-year-old was more concerned with his team's play in its own zone. "At times, whenever we did get the puck in their end, did the right thing, shot the puck deep, started to cycle, it seemed like we had a lot of opportunities and we were getting shots on net," Trocheck told reporters. "It's just making stupid plays in the D zone. Our breakouts weren't clean."

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (44-25-6): While Auston Matthews has five goals in his last seven games and registered a whopping 16 shot attempts on Saturday, William Nylander failed to tally in his last 12 contests and Andreas Johnsson has just one goal in the same span. "We've got a number of guys who haven't scored in a bit. The way I look at that is that's usually going to change," coach Mike Babcock told reporters. "We've got a number of guys that are 0-for-11 games or 10, whatever, or 1-in - those guys, pucks are going to go in if you work hard." Conversely, John Tavares has three of his career-high 41 goals against Florida this season and has recorded 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in his last 16 games overall.

OVERTIME

1. Toronto G Frederik Andersen owns an 8-3-2 mark with one shutout, a 2.20 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in 13 career encounters versus Florida.

2. Panthers captain C Aleksander Barkov has scored three goals versus the Maple Leafs this season.

3. Toronto has killed off 16 of its opponents' 17 power plays over the last eight games.

PREDICTION: Maple Leafs 4, Panthers 1