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After a thrilling series opener on Monday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs again host the defending NHL champion Florida Panthers in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals tonight at 7 PM ET.
Toronto took a 1-0 series lead, holding on for a 5-4 victory at Scotiabank. Coach Craig Berube took the Maple Leafs to the top of the Atlantic Division in his first year at the helm. Toronto has made the playoffs each of the past nine seasons, but this is only the second time during that stretch in which the team has advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. It’s just the second time since 2004 that the Leafs have advanced. Toronto is looking to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 23 years.
Under third-year coach Paul Maurice, the Panthers have reached the Stanley Cup Finals in each of the past two seasons, winning the franchise’s first NHL title last June. This is Florida’s sixth straight trip to the postseason overall. Florida took the regular season series, 3-1, outscoring the Maple Leafs, 13-7. The last time these two teams met up in the postseason was two years ago, and Florida eliminated Toronto in the second round in five games.
But that was then, and Toronto has already shown they can hang with the defending champs. Let’s break down each team’s play in Game 1 while previewing tonight’s matchup and our Panthers @ Maple Leafs NHL pick.
It was an inauspicious start to the series for Florida, as the Panthers found themselves trailing, 3-1, after one period and 4-1 less than midway through the second before battling back in the 5-4 defeat.
Brad Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe each had 2 assists to lead the Panthers, while Sam Bennett, Etu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskas and Seth Jones all scored. Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Award winner, was torched for five goals. He has a 2.69 goals allowed average in the playoffs, and a subpar .886 save percentage.
Six Panthers have six points each to pace the team in the playoffs. Marchand, the former Boston Bruins captain, has 6 assists, while Bennett leads with 4 goals.
The Maple Leafs defied prognosticators who predicted the Panthers would make quick work of them in this series, gutting out a gritty win despite a key injury. William Nylander, who is tied for the NHL postseason lead with 12 points, had 2 goals and an assist Monday night to lead Toronto. His opening tally came just 33 seconds into the game and set the tone for the rest of the period. Matthew Knies and Chris Tanev both had a goal and an assist, while Max Pacioretty and Jake McCabe had 2 assists apiece.
Toronto’s starting goaltender, Anthony Stolarz, made eight saves and allowed just one goal before coming off the ice midway through the second period with what was deemed a lower-body injury. His backup, Joseph Woll, made it interesting, allowing three goals while making 17 saves. Stolarz is day-to-day, and his return is critical to the Maple Leafs’ chances. He backed up Bobrovsky on the Panthers’ title-winning team last season.
Two Maple Leaf players stand out right now. Nylander is hot. After recording 6 points in the first five games of the first-round series against the Ottawa Senators, Nylander has 2 goals and an assist in each of his last two games. Meanwhile, teammate Mitch Marner has been a picture of consistency this postseason. His 8 assists are tied for second in the NHL in the playoffs. He has at least 1 assist in six of Toronto’s seven contests.
Both players will need to continue to play at this level, and Nylander looks poised to continue this mini-run to score another goal and record 2+ points.
Brian has been writing about sports professionally for 25 years, specializing in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, men's college basketball and football, and soccer. He covered high school, collegiate and professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for two decades. His written work has appeared in several print and online publications since 1999.