The Maple Leafs and Panthers held optional skates at Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Tuesday.

—

This game means a little more to the Maple Leafs.

“A team that knocked us out in the playoffs, so, yeah, there’s definitely more emotion and more jam involved,” said defenceman Jake McCabe. “You want those points even more.”

Toronto will take on Florida on Tuesday night for the first time since a lopsided loss in Game 7 at Scotiabank Arena.

“It’s obviously something that you keep in the back of your mind,” said defenceman Simon Benoit. “It’s still sour. Obviously, we were so close to going to the next round there. It’s something you keep in mind and just try to use it to your advantage.”

Scott Laughton believes there will “definitely” be some emotional carryover from the playoff series.

“We don’t like them,” the Leafs centre said. “I don’t think they like us, and that’s good.”

Brad Marchand may not like the Leafs on the ice, but he sure likes pumping their tires off the ice. On Monday, the Panthers winger defended the Leafs and said anyone who doubts their playoff chances needs to “find a new job.”

Laughton’s reaction?

“Yeah, I have no really comment on him.”

The pair went at it verbally throughout last year’s series. Does Laughton have some chirps locked and loaded for Tuesday’s game?

“I’ll wait till something happens,” he said.

‘We don’t like them’: Laughton has no comment on Marchand’s message The Maple Leafs still have a bitter state in their mouths from their playoff loss to the Panthers last season and forward Scott Laughton didn’t shy away from proclaiming his dislike for his opponent on Tuesday. Brad Marchand came to the Leafs’ defence Monday for the criticism the team has received but Laughton had no comment on Marchand’s words.

—

Craig Berube does not plan on bringing up the Game 7 beatdown in the lead up to this rematch, but the coach is hoping his players remember the stark differences between the final two games of the series.

“When you look at Game 6, the patience we played with, and you need that against this team,” Berube stressed.

The Leafs shutout the Panthers 2-0 in Game 6.

“You got to beat the pressure,” Berube said. “And it’s going to be a lot of pressure everywhere, and you got to be patient at times and manage the game, manage the puck. And we did that really well in Game 6. In Game 7, we got impatient in the second period, and it cost us. It really did. That’s what it boils down to, in my opinion.”

‘It’s going to be intense’: Leafs, Panthers motivated for playoffs rematch The Maple Leafs and Panthers are both expecting Tuesday’s game to be an emotional one with both squads facing each other for the first time since last season’s playoff series. Simon Benoit admitted that the team still has a sour taste in their mouths and will use that as motivation against Florida.

—

In order to try and beat the Panthers pressure, Berube will keep right-shot defenceman Philippe Myers in the lineup.

“He’s one of the right-hand shots we have available, and I just like the puck moving a little bit better,” he said. “[Lefty Dakota] Mermis has done a great job for us, but it’s more about the hands than anything.”

Myers is minus-seven in 11 games this season.

With Benoit away from the team for personal reasons, Myers drew back in on Saturday night playing for the first time since Nov. 15.

Benoit has now rejoined the team after what he called a highly emotional few days.

“My father-in-law passed away, so I wanted to be there for my girlfriend and support her,” Benoit said. “It’s not an easy thing.”

Benoit rejoins team after highly emotional trip home Simon Benoit missed Saturday’s game against the Penguins while tending to a personal matter but has rejoined the team in time to play against the Panthers on Tuesday. The defenceman spoke about how his game has been progressing over the last few games and how the team is dealing with adversity overall.

—

The Leafs will be missing their top two right-shot defencemen for the foreseeable future.

Berube announced that Brandon Carlo will miss “extended time” and “probably” need surgery to deal with a lower-body injury that has sidelined him since Nov. 13.

“He’s got to get something done,” Berube said. “It didn’t go the way we thought, so he’s going to be out for a bit.”

Chris Tanev has been out with an upper-body injury since Nov. 1.

“He’s going to have to get looked at here soon and see where he’s at,” Berube said. “He’s skating, though. Feels okay. I have no real update other than that on him.”

—

Panthers centre Sam Bennett knocked Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz from the series last spring with a hit to the head in Game 1. Stolarz dressed as the backup goalie in Game 7, but did not see action the rest of the playoffs.

And Stolarz will not make it to this rematch. He still has not skated since suffering an upper-body injury on Nov. 11.

“No real improvement there,” said Berube.

Joseph Woll will start for the seventh time in eight games. Sergei Bobrovsky gets the call for the Panthers.

—

After a slow start, Bennett is heating up of late with points in five of his last six games.

“He’s been on fire lately and it’s been fun to watch,” said Panthers forward Jesper Boqvist. “He’s just a dog, right. Like, he’s on the puck, f—king wants to score, everything, a gamer for sure.”

Boqvist is learning a lot from Bennett. Does that include how to get under the skin of the opposition?

“I’m a little behind on that,” Boqvist said with a smile.

‘He’s just a dog’: Bennett starts to heat up as Panthers look to get on track Sam Bennett has recorded seven points in his last six games for Florida and he’s someone the Leafs will have to keep an eye on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the Panthers hope to refocus and get back on a winning trend.

—

Toronto’s video session leading into Tuesday’s game featured a lighthearted moment as the team watched a replay of Auston Matthews running over assistant coach Derek Lalonde at Monday’s practice.

“Newsy took a nice spill there,” Laughton said with a laugh. “I saw the slow-mo of it. I was trying to keep it together, but he was sliding down the ice. Tone’s a big body.”

Walking out of the rink on Tuesday morning, Lalonde confirmed he’s feeling fine and told TSN his only concern was that Matthews was okay.

Earlier in Monday’s practice, Berube bumped into McCabe by accident.

“Chief was letting Caber know that he was a big boy and keep his head up,” Laughton said.

“I hope he’s all right,” McCabe quipped. “I wasn’t expecting that one. He was lucky it was just my head that caught him, not my shoulder … I thought it could have been worse if our big bodies collided.”

Leafs Ice Chips: Matthews hit on Lalonde makes it to video session The Maple Leafs and Panthers will renew acquaintances Tuesday night but both teams currently occupy the bottom two spots in the Eastern Conference and have a lot of work to do if they want to make it back to the playoffs. TSN’s Mark Masters has more on the loose tone at the Leafs’ morning skate and Scott Laughton’s offensive struggles.

—

With Woll staying off the ice on Tuesday morning and backup Dennis Hildeby working with goalie coach Curtis Sanford, Toronto’s forwards shot on a shooter tutor at the optional skate. They came up with a way to make the drill a bit more interesting.

“If you didn’t score, you had to get down and do five [push-ups],” said Laughton. “But not many guys were doing it.”

Laughton did his penance at one point. He’s hoping his luck will change soon. Laughton has failed to register a point in seven games this season.

“Penalty kill’s been pretty good and felt comfortable there,” Laughton said. “But I need to provide offence at the same time. I have two breakaways in Washington and they don’t go in. It’s important. It’s important when you get those chances, you got to make the most of them. But getting a couple of looks and once they start falling, hopefully it kind of gets it going a little bit. But, yeah, I definitely want to create and provide offence and help these guys out. It can’t be your top guys all the time.”

Laughton is among the team leader in hits per 60 and also contributes with his physicality. He got into it with Evgeni Malkin at the end of Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh.

“We’ve been going at it for 10 years,” the former Flyer said. “I got him with a cross-check earlier and I was reaching for the puck, and he knows what he’s doing there. So, I got a little fired up. But he plays hard. He’s a Hall of Famer. He’s an unbelievable player. He’s hard to play against and he’s a big body. So, he caught me there, and kind of had a couple words for him and that was it.”

—

Projected Leafs lineup for Tuesday’s game:

Knies – Matthews – Domi

Cowan – Tavares – Nylander

Joshua – Roy – McMann

Lorentz – Laughton – Robertson

Rielly – Ekman-Larsson

McCabe – Stecher

Benoit – Myers

Woll starts

Hildeby

Related Stories