The Toronto Maple Leafs had themselves a banner night at home against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night. Not only did they beat the divisional rival Florida Panthers in a crucial late-season matchup to create some separation in the division, but they clinched a playoff spot for the ninth season in a row in doing so.

If you’re a Leafs fan, all that matters to you in games like this is securing two points, but the way they won this game likely inspired some extra confidence. Not only did they have excellent play between the pipes, but their star players led them to victory, with William Nylander setting up John Tavares for the first goal, Auston Matthews setting up Mitch Marner for the second, and Marner setting up Matthew Knies for the third.

The thing about the Panthers is that you cannot give them a morsel of space without running the risk of them making you pay for it. Despite being down both Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, they still brought 110% to the table and they didn’t give the Leafs any gifts. Marner told reporters following the game that sticking to their game even when the momentum swung the other way was a big part of why they secured the win.

“I thought we just stuck with it,” Marner said. “It seemed like a pretty low-event game, not a lot of space out there. Just kind of grinded away. I thought we had a good first, I don’t think we had the best second, but like I said, we just stuck with it.”

Marner, who is up to 24 goals and 93 points in 74 games, went on to say that the team was dialled in on their line changes all night. This allowed them to seamlessly continue to apply pressure when one line would need a change after hemming the Panthers in their own zone.

“Every line, I think we were changing well as a unit, we’re getting guys off and getting fresh guys out there, we’re able to sustain some serious pressure,” Marner continued. “I think for us, we’re just winning battles down low, making plays, and not forcing anything.”

While Marner and Matthews’ roles are normally swapped when the two combine for a goal, the former was the one who put it in the net in this instance. He gave his teammate the brunt of the credit for the go-ahead goal he scored in the third period.

Yeah, it was great. Obviously, what he does with his body, he can put himself in great spots to get second opportunities,” Marner said. “For me, I just tried to find a quiet area. Lucky enough, he was able to find me and I was able to get it off.”

The Maple Leafs don’t have a lot of games left on their schedule that won’t have some high stakes around them. They’re back in action on Saturday night against the playoff-hopeful Columbus Blue Jackets, followed by a back-to-back against the Florida teams on Tuesday and Wednesday. Even in games against teams like the Buffalo Sabres, who the Leafs will see on April 15, stacking as many points as possible is imperative if the Leafs want to give themselves the best odds of advancing past the first round this season.