SIMMONS: Reason to believe as Maple Leafs head to Florida a winning team
This is a rather stirring place the Maple Leafs find themselves in so suddenly — up 2-0 against the Florida Panthers, the team nobody of sound mind would want to play against. This is a rather stirring place, halfway through to the next round of the playoffs: There is a certain crazy excitement to all of this in a Toronto that has waited forever to be in this place.
You don't want to get ahead of yourself. You can't, really. But truth is truth here: You are what your record says you are. The last time this Florida team was down 2-0 in a series, they lost a five-game Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The last time the Leafs led 2-0 in the second round after leading 2-0 in the first round was as recently as 1963, some 62 years ago, at a time when it took just two playoff rounds to win the Cup.
What's absolutely stirring now is that the Leafs are within two wins of the Conference Final. A place no Leafs team has been near since the late Pat Quinn was coaching and the Hall of Famer Mats Sundin was the captain.
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