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The Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs move on to the second round of the NHL playoffs to face off against each other tonight. Game 1 hits the ice at 8 PM ET sharp, so get ready for some hectic action between the two sides, but not before checking out our picks for the game and deciding whether they’re something you want to fade or follow!
The Florida Panthers had a near-walkthrough in their opening playoff series, winning4-1 against the Tampa Bay Lighting. Game 1 saw the Panthers net six goals in a 6-2 victory away at Tampa Bay on April 22, before heading Game 2 for another 2-0 repeat win away. Tampa Bay would only steal back Game 3 with a surprising 5-1 result, however, that was the only treat Florida would allow the Lightning before leading the series 3-1 after a 4-2 win in Game 4. Game 5 on April 30 saw the Panthers take an easy final 6-3 win before facing their newest opponents of Toronto in the upcoming first game of their series.
Florida’s center Sam Reinhart leads his team in the postseason with 2 goals and 4 assists. Teammate center Aleksander Barkov follows close to Reinhart with 1 goal and 4 assists, with the third team center Sam Bennett, pulling in 3 goals and 2 assists. The Panthers have plenty of point scoring spread throughout the team, with left-winger Matthew Tkachuk also netting 3 goals and 2 assists. Center Eetu Luostarinen isn’t to be counted out either, as he’ll head to the first game against the Maple Leafs with 1 goal and 4 assists to his name. As it stands, the Maple Leafs will have a lot of locking up to do around the ice to break up Florida’s team play before they hit their stride.
The Maple Leafs enter their series with the Panthers having beaten the Senators 4-2 in the previous round. Starting with a crushing 6-2 win in Game 1, the Maple Leafs would begin a three-game winning streak with a 3-2 OT win on April 22 and another 3-2 OT win on April 24. Game 4 also headed to OT, but this time, the Senators would steal a game back with a 4-3 victory. Almost climbing out of the series deficit, the Senators won Game 5 4-0 on April 29, before being put out of their misery on May 1 with the Maple Leafs winning 4-2.
After six games, right-winger William Nylander leads the postseason skating stats with 3 goals and 6 assists, with teammate Mitch Marner not too far behind with 1 goal and 7 assists, and he will likely set up his teammate for at least 1+ more goals tonight. The team has plenty of offensive firepower, with center Auston Matthews reaching 2 goals and 5 assists. John Tavares is another center to watch out for, netting 3 goals and 2 assists to bring up the rear of Toronto’s point scoring, The Maple Leafs take to the ice tonight with home advantage, so if their main point scorers can go on a tear, Toronto could comfortably seal Game 1 of the series.
The Panthers may have easily walked out of the first round with just one loss against Tampa Bay in their series and 19 goals scored, but the Maple Leafs would match that count of 19 goals after six games played. The Panthers would let up 17 goals in total after five games whereas the Maple Leafs let up 16 goals after six games, so this could come down to either Florida’s goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky or Toronto’s goaltender, Anthony Stolarz, both with 2.21 goals allowed per game in the playoffs to make a difference for their team.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.