Maple Leafs look for playoff breakthrough in second round against Panthers
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping to have their playoff breakthrough as they prepare to take on the Florida Panthers in the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Two years ago, the Maple Leafs were riding the high of their first playoff series win since 2004 when they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had just gone to the Stanley Cup Finals three years in a row, in the first round.
The good vibes quickly evaporated as the Maple Leafs ran into the buzzsaw that was the Florida Panthers, who eliminated Toronto in five games as they marched to the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers would lose in the final to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 but would return in 2024, earning the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup title in a seven-game series win over the Edmonton Oilers.
This time around, the Maple Leafs are looking to make the next step and reach the Eastern Conference final against a Panthers team that has not lost a step despite going the distance the last two years.
"It's going to be another hard series," Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. "I mean, they're obviously the defending champs, back-to-back Cup Finals. It's going to be hard. We have to reset, do our homework and rest up, do what we can and go in there with confidence and go in there with some pushback."
Taking on their state rival Lightning in the first round for the second year in a row, Florida defeated Tampa Bay in five games to set up the matchup.
Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs are coming off dispatching the Ottawa Senators in six games in the Battle of Ontario for their second series win in the past three seasons.
Toronto’s core forwards all were productive against Ottawa. William Nylander led the Maple Leafs with nine points (three goals, six assists) while Mitch Marner had eight points (one goal, seven assists). Matthews had seven points (two goals, five assists), and John Tavares and Matthew Knies had three goals each.
For the Panthers, Sam Reinhart led the way with six points (two goals, four assists) as Matthew Tkachuk (three goals, two assists), Sam Bennett (three goals, two assists), Anton Lundell (two goals, three assists), Eetu Luostarinen (one goal, four assists), and Aleksander Barkov (one goal, four assists) all had five points each in their series win over the Lightning.
The Maple Leafs come into the series against the Panthers with home-ice advantage after capturing the Atlantic Division title as Florida finished as the No. 3 seed.
During the regular season, the Panthers went 3-1-0 over the Maple Leafs, including their most recent matchup, a 3-1 win in Florida.
Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz was the backup to Sergei Bobrovsky on last year’s Panthers squad and earned a Stanley Cup ring. Now the starter in Toronto, Stolarz went 4-2 against Ottawa with a .901 save percentage and 2.21 goals-against average as he prepares to face his former team.
"It's going to be hard. You know, at this stage of the season, every game, every series is going to be hard," Stolarz. "We're down to the final bit of teams here, so everyone wants the same goal. Everyone wants that Stanley Cup. So, teams are going to lay it on the line."