Florida eliminated Lightning in 5 games; Toronto defeated Senators in 6
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The Florida Panthers will play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Panthers advanced by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 in Game 5 of the first round at Amalie Arena on Wednesday. The Maple Leafs advanced with a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators in Game 6 of their first-round series at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
Toronto, which is the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division, will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series against Florida, which is the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic.
“They’re obviously the Stanley Cup Champs, so they’re a very good team,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “They’ve got a lot of good pieces, they’re hard to play against. You know, I could keep going on and on, but it’s not the time right now.”
Sam Reinhart led the Panthers in the first round with six points (two goals, four assists). Matthew Tkachuk (three goals, two assists), Sam Bennett (three goals, two assists), Eetu Luostarinen (one goal, four assists), Anton Lundell (two goals, three assists) and Aleksander Barkov (one goal, four assists) each had five points.
Sergei Bobrovsky went 4-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average, .901 save percentage and one shutout.
William Nylander led the Maple Leafs in the first round with nine points (three goals, six assists). Mitch Marner had eight points (one goal, seven assists), Auston Matthews had seven points (two goals, five assists), and John Tavares and Matthew Knies each scored three goals.
Anthony Stolarz went 4-2 with a 2.21 GAA and .901 save percentage.
“It’s going to be hard. You know, at this stage of the season, every game, every series is going to be hard,” Stolarz said. “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.”
The Panthers went 3-1-0 against the Maple Leafs in the regular season, outscoring them 13-7. Bennett (three goals, two assists) and Reinhart (two goals, three assists) had five points each. Carter Verhaeghe (two goals, two assists) and Mackie Samoskevich (one goal, three assists) each had four points.
Bobrovsky was 3-1-0 with a 1.77 GAA and .925 save percentage. Vitek Vanecek, who was acquired in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on March 5, did not face Toronto this season.
Tavares led the Maple Leafs against the Panthers with three goals, and Marner had three points (two goals, one assist). Stolarz was 1-2-0 with a 3.06 GAA and .886 save percentage. Joseph Woll allowed two goals on 36 shots in a 3-1 loss April 8.
Florida and Toronto have played once in the playoffs, with the Panthers winning in five games in the 2023 second round.
Florida, which won the Stanley Cup last season, has won five straight playoff series and eight of nine, having advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons.
“It’s going to be another hard series,” 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.”
🔹Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
🔹Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
🔹Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
🔹New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
🔹St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
🔹Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
🔹Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights
🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
