For only the second time since 2004, the Toronto Maple Leafs have made it to the second round of the postseason. They beat the Ottawa Senators in six games, advancing to face the Florida Panthers.
This will be a rematch from a series in 2023 that was won handily by the Panthers.
Thanks to an overtime goal from John Tavares over two years ago, the Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning to end a 19-season playoff series victory drought. Infamously, Toronto fans chanted “we want Florida” after the game, which, given what happened next, is pretty funny.
Why would the Leafs fans want Florida? Well, the Panthers just barely squeaked into the postseason in 2023 and went down 3-1 in the series against the Boston Bruins, who had a terrific regular season. In Game 5, Sergei Bobrovsky robbed Brad Marchand with a second left on the clock, sending the game to overtime.
Matthew Tkachuk eventually found the back of the net to win the game 4-3 and move the series to 3-2. Game 6 was a high-scoring affair, which the Panthers won 7-5. The decisive Game 7 also went to overtime thanks to a last-minute goal from Brandon Montour, with Carter Verhaeghe eventually winning it in overtime for the Panthers.
The Panthers may have just squeaked into the playoffs in the 2023-24 season, but they finished with 122 points and a Presidents’ Trophy the season before. Not just that, but their six-game victory over the Washington Capitals in the first round was their first series win since 1996 when they went on their Cinderella Run in their third season in franchise history.
It turns out that Leafs fans probably would’ve had more fun playing the Boston Bruins. All five games were tightly contested, with Game 1’s 4-2 Panthers victory being the largest margin of victory. The Leafs dropped the first three games of the series before winning Game 4 by a score of 2-1. That didn’t matter much, as Nick Cousins found the back of the net in overtime to eliminate the Leafs in five games.
That was the first and only time the Leafs and Panthers have met in the postseason. Things are a bit different now, the Panthers lost in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals, but won it the next season – trust me, I’m not over it either. They didn’t quite limp into the postseason, but their last 10 regular season games saw them go 3-6-1. All concerns were put away with a dominant victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Battle of Florida.
The Leafs also had a battle of their own, better known as the Battle of Ontario, against the Ottawa Senators. After going up 3-0 in the series, they dropped the next two games before eventually closing out the series in six games. With that being said, the Leafs finished first in the Atlantic Division, the first time they finished first in their division since the COVID-impacted 2020-21. If you want a normal season, the last time they finished first in their division was in 1999-2000.
This matchup should be better, as the Leafs have a good head coach in Craig Berube, while they’ve gotten strong goaltending from former Panther (and Oiler) Anthony Stolarz. On the other hand, the Panthers look like a team that could make their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final. It’s going to be a fun series!
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
