Barkov leads the NHL in scoring since Feb. 17, posting 15 goals and 34 points in 19 games.
"It's going to be a challenge for these guys tonight, and that's good," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "I think we need it… We've got to get a little bit of our identity back, more consistency. It's a challenge tonight because this is a deep team, up the middle especially."
Boughner said he wants to see his team be more responsible with the puck in Toronto after registering 24 turnovers in a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night at BB&T Center.
Overall, the Panthers (33-30-12) have won five of their last eight games.
"We got a good taste of it the other night against Boston," Boughner said. "We didn't handle the puck very well. We didn't manage the puck very well, and we shot ourselves in the foot. The first four goals were in the back of our net because of not managing the game."
Mike Hoffman enters tonight's matchup leading the Panthers with a career-high 35 goals. One of the league's most-lethal shooters on the man advantage, the 29-year-old winger currently sits tied for third in the league in power-play goals (17) and tied for fifth in power-play points (34).
"We know they have a lot of firepower on the other side," Hoffman said. "We don't want to be giving them free goals. They're a good team. They're probably going to earn some themselves. We don't want to add some to the fire. We want to keep it simple and make the right plays."
The Panthers are the only team in the league this season to have four players register at least 30 points on the power play, as Keith Yandle (38), Jonathan Huberdeau (32), Hoffman (34) and Barkov (31) have helped push Florida's man advantage to second in the NHL at 27.3 percent.
Yandle's 38 power-play points currently stand as a franchise single-season record.
"I would imagine teams would rather have me shooting the puck than Hoff, Barky or Huby," Yandle said when asked how opponents approach facing their power play. "It's one of those things where I've just got to do my job when I'm out there, and do it to the best of my ability."
The Leafs (44-25-6) have lost five of their last seven games while allowing a total of 31 goals (4.43 goals per game) in that span. Mitch Marner leads the team in points (87), while Tavares paces the club in goals (41). Matthews, meanwhile, has chipped in 35 goals in just 61 games.
Toronto has scored 264 goals this season, which ranks fourth in the NHL.
"Discipline is going to be the key for us tonight, playing against a team like we did last game in Boston." Trocheck sad. "We turned the puck over a little bit too many times, made a few costly mistakes. Against a team like this, you make a couple mistakes and they're going to put it in the back of your net. We've got to make sure that we're taking care of the puck."
Florida has gone 2-1-0 against Toronto this season, with Barkov scoring three goals
"What he does is just insane," Yandle said of Barkov's abilities.
