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The Maple Leafs and the Panthers will face off in Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena tonight after Toronto won the series opener 5-4 on Monday.
Follow along as The Athletic’s reporters on the ground in Toronto and team of NHL experts across the country have you covered with the latest insight and analysis.
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Under Craig Berube, the Leafs have adopted the head coach’s sound, unfazed demeanour. They consistently talk about how they never saw hits on their players who walked the line. They’re encouraged not to engage after the whistles. Everything coming out of their mouths in the wake of Sam Bennett’s unpenalized elbow to their goalie was level-headed and forward-thinking.
That’s all well and good, but will that line hold with emotions running high in front of 19,000+ fans likely booing Bennett? Will any Leaf let the moment get to them and seek retribution? Spending time in the penalty box is something the Leafs will have to avoid. The Panthers had a decent 23.5 percent regular-season power play, after all.
How much will Bennett’s actions linger in the minds of the Leafs during the game, potentially distracting them from the task at hand? Game 1 was a reminder that it’s anyone’s guess what the referees in this series will or won’t call. Fans will want fireworks. Berube will want a low-event game.
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The Leafs pumped in five five-on-five goals in Game 1. It was only the third time all season — regular season or playoffs — that the Panthers have given up five-plus goals in a game at five-on-five. Florida ranks among the league’s very best in the five-on-five space. Whether the Leafs can own that space again in Game 2 may depend on if their top two lines can again win their matchups. The top six produced all five of those goals in the series opener.
Joseph Woll came into Game 1 with no warmup and stopped his first flurry of shots from in tight. But he then allowed three third-period goals, two of which he probably should have stopped. Those goals allowed the Panthers back into the game and forced a Leafs team to tighten up in front of Woll.
His track record as a strong shot stopper in the playoffs and his .909 regular-season save percentage (over 42 games) suggests Woll could rebound in Game 2. As much as Woll can say he goes into a game preparing to play, seeing your goaltending partner vomit on the bench before jumping into a pressure-filled situation with little notice is a different beast. Can Woll put to work the new physical and mental training he’s utilized all season when it matters? He can draw on his own experience of shutting down the Panthers for stretches in 2023. He wants to prove he’s a long-term No. 1 goalie in this league, too. Tonight is going to present a remarkable opportunity to do just that.
Joseph Woll will make his fifth career playoff start and third against the Panthers tonight, following Game 4 (a 2-1 win) and Game 5 (a 3-2 overtime loss) of the 2023 second round.
Woll set a career high with 27 wins in the 2024-25 regular season – a campaign that saw the Maple Leafs feature multiple 20-win goaltenders for the first time.
As you would expect, Maple Leafs fans had strong reactions to the injury Anthony Stolarz suffered after Sam Bennett's hit.
Dom M.: Bennett should be suspended. This guy has a history of playing on the edge, and gets away with crap often. League needs to send him a message.
Wesley D.: You're either blind or a Florida fan (or both) if you don't think the Bennett forearm wasn't intentional. If Stolarz is out, Bennett has to get games. The guy is a perennial dirty player, took Knies out last series too.
Alyssa T.: Thank god our backup goalie is just as good as most teams' normal goalie but I’m furious about that hit on Stolie. Ridiculous.
Remember, you can email us your thoughts and reactions at live@theathletic.com.
GO FURTHER
The Panthers — and Maple Leafs — are trying to calm the storm around Sam Bennett
Sam Bennett didn't face any supplemental discipline for his forearm to the head of Anthony Stolarz in Game 1.
Speaking Monday night, Matthew Knies sounded like he expected the league to punish Bennett, saying, "Hopefully the league will handle it and protect our players."
Toronto will surely have strong feelings about Bennett getting away with the hit without even so much as a penalty.
GO FURTHER
Mirtle: Why Sam Bennett should be suspended for his hit on Anthony Stolarz
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It didn’t take Sam Bennett very long to reassert himself as Public Enemy No. 1 in Toronto Monday night.
When these teams met during the second round in 2023, Bennett knocked Matthew Knies out of the series in Game 2 with a concussion after taking him to the ice with a piledriver-type move.
This time he took out Stolarz, his Panthers teammate last season. Bennett extended his right arm while skating out from behind the net and knocked Stolarz to the ice. Officials immediately stopped play and Stolarz initially remained in the game, before later skating to the Toronto bench and throwing up during a stoppage in play.
From that point on, Bennett was treated to a round of boos by the Scotiabank Arena crowd whenever he touched the puck.
GO FURTHER
‘Intimidating player’: Sam Bennett becomes the villain again after unpenalized Anthony Stolarz hit
Sergei Bobrovsky made a slow start to the series in Game 1, getting beaten five-hole on the first shot he faced from William Nylander just 33 seconds in and surrendering three goals on 12 shots overall in the opening 20 minutes.
During the 2023 playoffs, he didn’t allow more than two goals to Toronto in any of the five games and finished that series with a sparkling .943 save percentage.
Bobrovsky looked off in the early stages Monday night, losing his angle on Morgan Rielly’s rush goal to put the Leafs ahead 3-1 before a bobbling Chris Tanev point shot went through him at 7:50 of the second period. However, he tightened up considerably from there and gave the Panthers a chance to rally back.
Playoff Bob appeared to be back in his usual form in the third period, denying Max Domi on a breakaway, before eventually surrendering another goal to Matthew Knies when the Leafs winger got in alone.
It was the first time in these playoffs that Bobrovsky allowed more than four goals against.
William Nylander continues to thrive when the spotlight is at its brightest. The Leafs winger bagged two goals to start Game 1, highlighted by a wrist shot from a tough angle to score on the Leafs’ first shot of the game. His first goal came just 33 seconds after puck drop, making it the quickest goal to start a game for the Leafs in all their 89 games this season.
The two goals were the 24th and 25th of his playoff career, leaving him tied with the best shooter in franchise history — Auston Matthews — for first in Leafs playoff goals since 2017.
Nylander added an assist on Rielly’s goal, leaving him tied among all players in playoff points this year (12) after Monday. That also makes him the first Leaf since 2002 to have at least five goals and 12 points in the playoffs.
All these numbers are just a reminder of one thing: the moment never seems to faze Nylander. The Leafs’ stars were always going to have to be at their best, or at least produce consistently, to give Toronto a chance in this series. Nylander is holding up his end of the bargain.
On their way to winning the Stanley Cup last season, the Panthers trailed in a series twice. In the second round, they lost Game 1 to the Bruins before winning the next three and ultimately advancing 4-2. In the Eastern Conference Final, they trailed the Rangers 2-1 before closing out the series with three straight wins. They never trailed by more than one game – so a loss tonight would put them in unfamiliar territory.
When trailing 1-0 in a best-of-seven series, reigning Stanley Cup champions hold an all-time record of 24-36.
As Chris mentioned, the last time the Maple Leafs had multiple 2-0 series leads in the same postseason was 1963.
Looking at the history of seven-game series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, teams that win Game 1 own an all-time series record of 531-249 (68.1 percent). That number rises to 358-57 (86.3 percent) for teams that go 2-0 up.
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There is a "wear your Leafs sweater to work" kind of vibe in Toronto ahead of Game 2. The streets in the city's financial district are already awash with blue on the nicest day so far this year. It's 22C/72F and sunny.
The Leafs have seldom found themselves in this kind of position. They held a 2-0 series lead over the Ottawa Senators in Round 1 and could do the same against Florida with a win tonight. The last time the Leafs had multiple 2-0 series leads in the same postseason: 1963, a spring where they won the Stanley Cup.
Prior to his relief appearance in Game 1, Joseph Woll had yet to appear in the playoffs this season despite playing 42 games in the regular season.
We know coach Craig Berube wanted his team to roll with one goalie instead of a tandem through the playoffs. The Leafs might have considered how strong Woll has been in relief during the last two postseasons: He ripped off a .915 save percentage through four games in 2023 after Ilya Samsonov suffered an injury. Woll then took over for Samsonov after he faltered against the Bruins and propelled the Leafs late in the series with a .964 save percentage.
Woll swallowed the shots he saw early on in Game 1 and looked composed enough after replacing Stolarz despite not having a warm-up. He’s remained in great spirits behind the scenes while not playing. That attitude was evident in how quickly he responded to the tap on the shoulder Monday night. Even after allowing two quick goals to start the third period, he held on for 17 saves.
Joseph Woll will start for Toronto tonight after relieving Anthony Stolarz during Game 1 and seeing out the Leafs' win.
Stolarz will not be available, which means that Matt Murray will back up Woll.
This series took a sharp turn midway through the second period of Game 1 when Panthers forward Sam Bennett hit Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. The Leafs goalie’s head looked to snap in an awkward manner and two minutes later he was replaced by Joseph Woll. ESPN's broadcast later reported that he had vomited behind the bench.
Leafs fans will remember that Bennett also hit Matthew Knies during the 2023 series between these two teams, ending Knies' season.
With one of their better games of the playoffs, the Maple Leafs stormed to an early lead in Game 1 and held on late, beating the reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers 5-4.
Through the first two periods, the Leafs looked and acted like the aggressors against an opponent that was thought to be the nastier and more physical team coming into Game 1. Two goals from William Nylander and goals from Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev and an electric breakaway goal from Matthew Knies were the difference against a Panthers team that waited until the third period to turn it on.
Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis and Sam Bennett scored in the third as Florida twice cut its deficit to one goal, but Toronto was able to see out the win.
GO FURTHER
The Maple Leafs found a blueprint for beating the Panthers
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