Toronto advanced by eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 overtime win in Game 6 of the best-of-7 first round at Amalie Arena on Saturday.
"Nice to get it but it's obviously step one," said Maple Leafs forward John Tavares, who scored the winning goal in Game 6. "We know we have a tough challenge coming up for us soon."
The Maple Leafs (50-21-11), the No. 2 seed from the Atlantic Division, will have home-ice advantage against the Panthers (42-32-8), the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
The Panthers upset the Boston Bruins in the first round, advancing with a 4-3 overtime win in Game 7 on Sunday. Boston (65-12-5) won the Presidents' Trophy as the top team during the regular season, setting an NHL record for wins.
Toronto and Florida have never played each other in the playoffs.
"We'll enjoy this, but obviously it's just step one on our journey," Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews said after eliminating the Lightning. "It only gets harder from here."
Mitchell Marner led Toronto in the first round with 11 points (two goals, nine assists). Auston Matthews had nine points (five goals, four assists), Morgan Rielly had eight (three goals, five assists) and John Tavares, William Nylander and Ryan O'Reilly each had seven. Goalie Ilya Samsonov was 4-2 with a 3.14 goals-against average and .900 save percentage.
The Maple Leafs were 3-0-1 against the Panthers this season, with three of the games going to overtime. Marner had six points (one goal, five assists) and Matthews scored five goals. Nylander (three goals, two assists) and Tavares (one goal, four assists) each had five points.
Samsonov was 2-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA and .953 save percentage in three games (two starts). Murray was 1-0-0 with a 4.41 GAA and .860 save percentage in two starts.
"They have some really elite players that can make plays, and they play the right way," Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. "They're a different team than they have been in years past, and it's going to be a good challenge for us."
Brandon Montour led the Panthers against the Maple Leafs in the regular season with five points (two goals, three assists). Aleksander Barkov had four points (one goal, three assists). Alex Lyon was 1-0-1 with a 1.92 GAA and .938 save percentage. Sergei Bobrovsky was 0-1-1 with a 4.99 GAA and .841 save percentage.
Lyon started the first three playoff games against Boston before getting pulled in the third period of the Game 3 loss. He was 1-2 with a 3.26 GAA and .902 save percentage. Bobrovsky was 3-1 in four starts with a 3.94 GAA and .891 save percentage.
Matthew Tkachuk led the Panthers with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in the first round. Montour (five goals, three assists) and Verhaeghe (two goals, six assists) each had eight points.
NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger contributed to this report
