The Maple Leafs and Panthers skated at Baptist Health Iceplex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Tuesday

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The sliding Florida Panthers are getting reinforcements for Tuesday’s showdown against the Leafs.

Captain and first-line centre Aleksander Barkov will return after missing three games, including last week’s 3-2 loss in Toronto.

“For us, I like that he’s back in the lineup,” insisted Leafs defenceman Brandon Carlo. “It’s a great challenge for us to continue to kind of gauge ourselves.”

Top-line winger Sam Reinhart and top-four defenceman Gustav Forsling will also draw back in for the Panthers after sitting out Sunday’s 2-1 loss in Detroit to rest some bumps and bruises.

Reinhart had played in every game this season and also suited up for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off. He hasn’t missed a game since the 2021-22 season.

“He’s played more games than anyone else in the NHL in the last two [years], so pulling the guy on a back to back seemed to make sense,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

The Panthers, who were shutout on Saturday in Ottawa, have lost five straight (0-4-1) amid an unforgiving schedule.

“We’re nine games in 15 days this month, with three sets of back-to-back, but that’s coming off 10 of 14 on the road,” Maurice pointed out. “So, we’ve been in one.”

Florida is 4-8-1 since defenceman Aaron Ekblad was suspended for or violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program back on March 10. Florida's last regulation win came on March 13 in Toronto.

Regardless of the results, the Panthers are generally happy about their process of late.

“We’ve been through something like this before, so there’s no panic, there’s no sense of urgency,” said Reinhart. “I think there’s things in our game that we’re doing very well and that’s what we’re focused on. Of course, certainly, it would be nice to see the wins.”

In particular, Florida likes how its forecheck game is working even though the offence has dried up of late. The Panthers have scored just nine goals in the past six outings.

“Our game is starting to round to where we need to get,” Maurice said. “It’s starting to become a little more physical and it might be something that gets the game going tonight.”

Despite playing on the second half of a back-to-back last week in Toronto, the Panthers were tied in the third period against the rested Leafs.

“They check extremely well,” said Leafs coach Craig Berube. “They’re........

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