Maple Leafs-Panthers Game 1 set for Monday night at Scotiabank Arena
The
Maple Leafs
will start their second-round
NHL
playoff series against the Florida Panthers on Monday night,
as the victors of the Battle of Ontario
face the
victors of the Battle of Florida
.
Given the Leafs earned home-ice advantage by winning the Atlantic Division, Game 1 will start at 8 p.m. The first two games will be played at Scotiabank Arena before the series shifts to Sunrise, Fla. for Games 3 and 4.
The Panthers, who advanced by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games, are the reigning Stanley Cup champions who beat the Leafs in five games in the second round of the 2023 playoffs. The lasting image was ex-
Panthers defenceman Radko Gudas standing over and screaming at Leafs goalie Joseph Woll
after the Panthers scored to clinch the series in Game 5.
'It's going to be another hard series,' captain Auston Matthews said after the Leafs eliminated Ottawa in six games. '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.'
The Panthers won three of four meetings against the Leafs in the regular season, outscoring them 13-7. Sam Bennett (three goals, two assists) and Sam Reinhart (two goals, three assists) had five points each.
John Tavares led the Leafs in the season series with three goals and Mitch Marner had three points (two goals, one assist).
The Leafs signed three players off the
Cup-winning Panthers roster in the off-season
: goalie Anthony Stolarz, forward Steven Lorentz and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
'It's going to be hard,' said Stolarz. 'At this stage of the season, every game, every series is going to be hard. We're down to the final bit of teams here. Everyone wants the same goal. Everyone wants the Stanley Cup, so teams are going to lay it on the line.'
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