The Maple Leafs held an optional practice at Ford Performance Centre on Monday.

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Playing the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning seems to bring out the best in Matthew Knies.

"It's just very tight scoring, close games," the 6-foot-3, 227-pound winger said ahead of Tuesday's showdown with the Panthers. "It's playoff hockey, very physical, and I think that’s kind of where my game takes off. It’s very simple, very up-and-down hockey, a North-South game, that’s kind of when I tend to play my best hockey, so that’s probably the reason."

Knies has piled up 10 goals and 11 assists in 22 career games against the NHL's Florida-based teams. That includes one goal and three assists in seven playoff games.

Knies scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in Toronto's 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers last week. The second-year pro followed that up with an assist and six shots, matching a season high, in the Leafs 5-0 shutout of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Knies also landed a game high four hits.

"He is playing playoff hockey, that's for sure, with how heavy he is playing and skating and physical and just on top of things," said coach Craig Berube. "He's been playing extremely well for the last couple of weeks.”

With seven points in 14 career playoff games, Knies has already shown that he can generate offence when the games get tighter.

"I just want to be playing my best hockey at this time and go in with momentum and kind of the hunger that you need at playoff time," the 22-year-old said. "So I'm just trying to play my best hockey and I think it’s been trending upwards.”

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Knies showed his confidence on Saturday night by attempting to score via the 'Michigan' move.

"The puck was kind of rolling so I thought it was a good opportunity there to do it," said Knies. "That’s probably the closest I’ve ever come. It kind of sucks that it didn’t go in there.”

The University of Minnesota product tried the lacrosse-style move a couple times during NCAA play.

"By 'a few times' I mean probably twice," he said with a smile. "I tried it … but it’s never gone in for me, so I don't know if it's going to come out [again] any time soon."

What makes it hard to pull off?

"Ice has gotta be good," Knies noted. "I feel like the goalies expect it and that D's coming down on you so you don't want to get your head taken off. There's a lot of factors that make it very difficult. Close, but no cigar.”

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After a day off on Sunday, the Leafs held an optional practice on Monday. They usually hold a full team skate after a day off, but the schedule this week led Berube to prioritize rest.

"Back-to-back games coming up twice in [six] days," Berube pointed out. "That's part of the reasoning."

After playing in Sunrise, Fla. on Tuesday, the Leafs will head across the state to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. Toronto will then host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night before travelling to Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday in a 5pm start.

So, that's four games this week in four different cities against opponents who are all in a playoff spot.

Despite the condensed calendar, most of the Leafs participated in the practice on Monday. John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander were the only regulars to stay off the ice.

The Leafs are expecting the Panthers to be full of energy after losing for the fifth straight time (0-4-1) on Sunday.

"They're an experienced team," said centre

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