The Lightning skated at Amalie Arena on Wednesday. The Leafs held a team meeting.

The Leafs need a big bounce-back performance on Wednesday night in Tampa if they want to retain top spot in the Atlantic Division.

"Usually we do respond really well," said winger Bobby McMann. "[I'm] looking forward to how it’s going to be tonight. We usually recognize when things aren’t going well and I think that’s a sign of a good team. You’re not going to have your best every single night, but you’re going be able to bring it shortly after."

The Leafs were far from their best during Tuesday's 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. The defending Stanley Cup champions dominated possession right from the drop of the puck.

"They wanted it more than us," coach Craig Berube declared at the start of his post-game media availability. "It starts in a faceoff circle. They're 70 per cent. It just comes down to competitiveness and digging in more. They seemed like a more desperate team than us."

The Panthers, who got captain and top-line centre Aleksander Barkov back from injury, snapped a five-game skid (0-4-1) and avenged last week's loss in Toronto.

Despite missing Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad among others, Florida outshot Toronto 37-18 and also outhit the Leafs 43-29.

"Our physicality, I think we were a little bit soft in some areas and, you know, not through the full 60," said winger Matthew Knies. "So, yeah, we're going to have to learn to do that when it comes to playoff time."

Back in November the Leafs got pumped by the Panthers 5-1 in Sunrise, Fla. before responding with a big win in Tampa. Toronto is hoping a similar story plays out as they aim to salvage this two-game swing through the Sunshine State.

Toronto leads Tampa Bay by just two points (98-96) heading into Wednesday's final head-to-head showdown of the regular season. The two teams have the same number of regulation wins........

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