The Florida Panthers missed out an opportunity Thursday to tie the Toronto Maple Leafs for third in the Atlantic Division, falling 5-3 to Toronto after holding a 3-1 lead in the first period.

The Panthers, who have a game in hand on Toronto, now sit four points back of the Maple Leafs with 18 games left their season. Head coach Joel Quenneville called the result Thursday "a disappointing game."

"It was one of those games where we didn't do the right things around the offensive zone or manage the puck well," Quenneville said. "I thought they were better in the neutral zone than we were tonight. It was a disappointing game. I thought Sergei [Bobrovsky] was all right, he made some big saves in the second and third and gave us a chance, but we have to find a way at home to get something out of this game."

The Panthers were outshot 29-27 in the loss, failing to score again after Noel Acciari made the game 3-1 in their favour just over halfway through the first period.

"We had a good start but unfortunately we blow our lead," Bobrovsky said. "We gave up easy goals, not necessarily [good] goals. It was a big game for us and them, and unfortunately we were on the wrong side."

The Panthers, who are 4-6 in their past 10 games, will host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday in the second of five straight home games. Florida will face the Maple Leafs for the final time this season next month, on March 23 in Toronto.

"We're still in it and we're still in a really good spot but we need wins," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "We're going to do everything we can next game. This is the team we are going to have to battle against to make the playoffs."