Fort Lauderdale – It’s time to dance with your familiar enemies.
Set for the second postseason showdown, the Florida Panthers will play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
In the only other playoff battle, the Panthers won five games in Round 2 in 2023.
“The similarities with our first round,” coach Paul Maurice said when asked about Toronto’s preparations. “Some high-end, elite skills. Good goaltending and great defensive structure for their team. These things will be similar from the start.”
So how did you get back here?
Despite starting later than Toronto, the Panthers punched tickets to the second round of the second round, eliminating cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the first round.
Avoiding the possibility of a stressful game 7, the Maple Leafs pushed into the second round in a 4-2 victory over Senators Ottawa in Game 6 on Thursday.
Toronto’s top seed, Toronto will earn a home ice advantage in Round 2.
Of course, that shouldn’t stop the Panthers who went 3-0 on the road with Tampa Bay.
“They obviously won the Division this year,” defensive man Seth Jones said of the Maple Leafs. “They are a very talented team and are very offensive. We’re carving out the work for us, but for the next few days we’ll do the right thing to prepare for Game 1 for that.”
After scoring the Panthers with 81 points (39 goals, 42 assists) in the regular season, Sam Reinhart scored a team-high six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in round one.
Despite returning from a long stint in the LTIR, Matthew Tokachuk scored five points (3 goals, 2 assists) and quickly returned to his usual playoff form against the lightning.
Spreading the attack, Sam Bennett (3 goals, 2 assists), Eetu Luostarinen (1 goal, 4 assists), Anton Landell (2 goals, 3 assists), and Alexander Barkov (1 goal, 4 assists) had five points, with 15 different Panthers having at least one point.
On the net, Sergei Bobrovsky scored 2.21 goals 4-1, reaching 4-1 with an average and a .901 save percentage.
Beyond the ice, William Nylander, who always appears to bring in an A-game against the Panthers, scored Toronto in round 1 with nine points (3 goals, 6 assists).
For the other three members of the Maple Leafs’ Core 4, Mitch Marner had eight points (1 goal, 7 assists), Auston Matthews had seven points (2 goals, 5 assists), and John Tavares had five points (3 goals, 6 assists).
Between the pipes, Anthony Stral averaged 2.21 goals and a save percentage of 0.901 to go 4-2.
To reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the third year in a row, the Panthers will have to pass some familiar faces: Slolatz, Oliver Ekman Larson and Stephen Laurentz.
They each spent only one season in South Florida, but all three players left a lasting impact as key members of the team’s first team to win the Stanley Cup in June.
