2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Maple Leafs vs. Panthers 2nd-round preview

Toronto forward group coming off productive opening best-of-7 series, Florida in next stage after upsetting Bruins

By Mike Zeisberger

@Zeisberger NHL.com Staff Writer

May 01, 2023

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features eight teams in four best-of-7 series, which start Tuesday.

Today, NHL.com previews the Eastern Conference Second Round between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.

(2A) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (WC2) Florida Panthers

Maple Leafs:50-21-11, 111 points; 4-3 to win first round against Tampa Bay Lightning

Panthers:42-32-8, 92 points; 4-3 to win first round against Boston Bruins

Season series:TOR 3-0-1; FLA 1-1-2

Game 1:Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS)

The Florida Panthers shocked the hockey world -- at least those outside their own dressing room -- with a seven-game win against the heavily favored Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Carter Verhaeghe scored at 8:35 of overtime to give the Panthers a 4-3 victory in Game 7 on Sunday to eliminate the Presidents' Trophy winners who finished the regular season with NHL records of 65 wins and 135 points, 43 ahead of the Panthers.

"The way we battled back through the series, through this game, it's been a ride," Verhaeghe said.

The Panthers are on a three-game winning streak, overcoming a 3-1 series deficit against the Bruins while outscoring them 15-11. Led by Matthew Tkachuk (11 points; five goals, six assists), they'll face a Maple Leafs team that surrendered 21 goals in a six-game win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

John Tavares' overtime goal in Game 6 gave the Maple Leafs their first series win since 2004. Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander combined for 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists).

"Time to reset," forward Ryan O'Reilly said. "New opponent, tough opponent, one we have to be ready for."

Game breakers

Maple Leafs:Matthews' five goals led the Maple Leafs in the first round. There were several shifts where he simply refused to be knocked off the puck in the offensive zone and deserved kudos for his defensive play. His penchant for stripping opponents of pucks in the neutral and defensive zone is a key element in a dangerous transition game.

Panthers:There's not much Tkachuk can't do. He scores. He hits. He agitates. He gets into the heads of his opponents. His five goals are tied with defenseman Brandon Montour for the team lead and his 16 penalty minutes are fourth. Tkachuk is the heart-and-soul of the Panthers and the leader of their us-against-the-world mentality.

TOR@TBL, Gm6: Matthews rips it from the circle

Goaltending

Maple Leafs:Ilya Samsonov's stats (3.14 goals-against average, .900 save percentage) aren't overly impressive when you first look at them. But dig deeper and you'll find he played much better than they showed. He won all three games on the road, in overtime, and is an example of how it doesn't matter how many saves you make, it's when you make them.

Panthers:It seems like months ago when the Panthers were resting their hopes on Alex Lyon. Then Sergei Bobrovsky took over and won the final three games. Bobrovsky's issues are twofold: staying consistent and healthy. When he's both, he can be a difference-maker, like his 44 saves in Game 5 that included stopping Brad Marchand on a breakaway with one second remaining in the third period.

Numbers to know

Maple Leafs: 6,948. Number of days between postseason series wins for the Maple Leafs since defeating the Ottawa Senators 19 years ago.

Panthers:59.3. The penalty-kill percent against the Bruins. Florida allowed 11 goals in 27 short-handed situations.

X-factors

Maple Leafs:Matthew Knies signed with the Maple Leafs one day after playing for the University of Minnesota at the NCAA Frozen Four. There were questions about how he would handle the physical toll. The 20-year-old forward answered them with three assists in five games and some nice work along the boards leading to Tavares' game-winner. Whether Knies plays in the top six or on the third line with O'Reilly and Noel Acciari, he was one of the more effective players against the Lightning and could be the same against the Panthers.

Panthers: Sam Bennett caused all sorts of havoc for the Bruins with his sandpaper style and penchant of going to the so-called dirty areas in front of the opposing net. Don't expect that to change. He has five points (three goals, two assists) and 22 penalty minutes, showing he can affect the outcome of games in many ways.

They said it

"We play very close to Tampa's game, and Toronto plays very close to Boston's game with different personnel, but the structure of the game is the same, so it's actually a little lighter on the coaches in terms of what they have to show their team." -- Panthers coach Paul Maurice

"Tkachuk and Bennett are good players who can both score and like to be around the net a lot looking for loose pucks. They're physical too. We need to be wary of that whenever they're on the ice." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Luke Schenn

Will win if ...

Maple Leafs: Their best players play like their best players. The Big Four had a lucrative first-round series but must keep the momentum going against a physical Panthers team. Secondary scoring is always welcome, but Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander need to perform this time of year. Don't forget about Reilly, who had four assists in Game 2, the overtime winner in Game 3 and a late tying goal in Game 4, all victories.

Panthers: Bobrovsky is on his game. The Panthers allowed more goals (272) this season than the other seven remaining teams in the playoffs, so Bobrovsky could be very busy in the coming days.