What did Wednesday's win over the Panthers mean to the Leafs?

"A lot," said winger Matthew Knies, who scored the game-winning goal in the third period. "We kind of owe it to those guys. So, yeah, it feels good in this locker room. We'll try and keep that juice for the rest of the regular season here."

Toronto had lost both previous games to Florida this season, including a 3-2 setback at Scotiabank Arena on March 13.

With Wednesday's regulation win, the Leafs extended their lead over the third-place Panthers to four points in the race for top spot in the Atlantic Division.

"Our goal is to win the division and get home-ice advantage and this is a team, more likely than not, if we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish, that we will run into in the playoffs," said goalie Anthony Stolarz, who beat his old team for the first time.

"So, just being able to match them for 60 minutes and kind of take over in the third and score some timely goals and then shut it down towards the end was huge for us. Huge for our confidence."

The Tampa Bay Lightning are three points back with a game in hand, which they will play on Thursday in Ottawa. After hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, the Leafs will head south to face both the Panthers and Lightning early next week.

The Leafs are 3-0-0 against the Lightning this season, but the Panthers seemed to have their number previously.

That feeling changed on Wednesday night as the Leafs rallied from a goal down and played a patient game to outlast the defending champions.

"We just stuck with it," said winger Mitch Marner, who delivered a goal and an assist in the third period. "I don't know what the scoring chances were, but it seemed like a low-event game, not a lot of space out there, just kind of grinding away."

High-danger chances favoured the Panthers 13-12 in 5-on-5 play, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

After Toronto started strong, Florida tilted the ice in their favour during the second period.

"We hung on and battled through that," said coach Craig Berube. "In the third period, we were better again. We were on our toes playing. We ended up getting a lead and closed the game out. Overall, it is the type of hockey we knew we had to play against Florida. There's no room. You have to fight for space. It's a lot of stuff around your net. It is about winning battles — puck battles — constantly."

"We know what their pedigree's all about," said centre John Tavares, who opened the scoring for the Leafs, "how well they play as a team and how structurally sound they are, how hard they compete, and obviously a lot of skill, a lot of depth, different elements they bring. It was a really good test."

The Panthers were playing for the third time in four nights. Florida arrived in Toronto after losing to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime on Tuesday night.

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