There’s something to be said about how every NHL regular season game matters, but some of them just have a different feel to it. Wednesday night’s tilt between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers is one of them.

On paper, it’s easy to see why it’s such a big game to begin with. It’s a tilt between two divisional rivals in the final stretch of the season. What amplifies it even more, however, is that the Leafs are in first place and are deadlocked in a battle with both the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place. On one hand, it should absolutely be seen as a positive that the Leafs are in first place this late in the season, but on the other hand, we’re talking about a spread of two points at the time of filing. One bad stretch and the Leafs could find themselves deadlocked into third place without home ice advantage.

Chris Tanev and Brandon Carlo, two of the team’s sturdier defencemen and both with a wealth of playoff experience, know just how high the stakes are for the second of three matchups against Florida this season.

“It’s an important game,” Tanev told media at the team’s optional skate Wednesday morning. “Everyone knows how tight the standings are and the importance of getting home ice and winning the division.”

The Panthers have given the Maple Leafs their fair share of grievances in the past two years. They wasted no time squashing the bubble of momentum the Leafs had after winning their first playoff series in 19 years back in 2022-23, eliminating them in five games before heading to the Cup final themselves. Above anything else, they’re simply a hard team to play against. They’re physical, they’re aggressive, and they’ve got players who will happily get under your skin if you let them.

Florida rolls into town after a crushing last-minute loss against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, a game that would have punched the Leafs’ ticket to the playoffs had they pulled out a win. Tanev and the rest of the team know that facing a team that played the day before gives them no excuse to take them lightly, saying that getting after them early in the game will be crucial to getting two points.

“Playing our game, going out and initiating,” Tanev said, listing off what the team has to do to give themselves the best odds of success. “Playing confident and not being afraid to make plays. We have to try to go at them as best as we can early on.

One team that won’t be in the mix for once is the Boston Bruins, who had a firesale at the trade deadline and unloaded some core pieces. Two of them will be in Wednesday night’s game, playing on opposite sides of the rink, with Brandon Carlo suiting up for the Maple Leafs while longtime Bruins pest Brad Marchand joins the peskiest team in hockey. Carlo says that it’s going to be weird facing Marchand for the first time, reflecting on his battles with him in practice.

“It’ll be fun. A lot of battles that I’ve had with him in practice over the years, we tried to go against each other in drills, just to have that compete level in practice,” Carlo said, reflecting on his days in the Bruins dressing room with Marchand. “It’ll be a different level in the game. But, I’m looking forward to the challenge and it will be funny to see him across the hash marks.”

Along with Carlo and Marchand, the Bruins also shipped out forwards Trent Frederic and Charlie Coyle, with the former going to the Edmonton Oilers and the latter to the Colorado Avalanche. Carlo admitted that it was nice to have those players to lean on as he experienced being traded for the first time, but said that friendship don’t matter on the ice.

“I’ve played with a lot of guys over the years that have gone to different teams, and when you’re competing against each other, you know the name of the game,” Carlo continued. “You’re going out there to compete and battle for your team regardless, and the friendships kind of get pushed aside for the time being. But, you know, afterwards, you can throw them a text or say hi and go to dinner or whatnot.”

The Maple Leafs will face the Panthers again in a week, part of a massive back-to-back with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but they can only focus on what’s in front of them. Friendly faces or not, Carlo knows what the most important thing is.

“Overall, yeah, those things you can only think about so much. We’re used to competing against each other our whole lives.”