The Toronto Maple Leafs will host Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Florida Panthers Tuesday night. The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs have been thrilling thus far and there is no reason to expect that to change in this series.
The Maple Leafs have finally won a playoff series for the first time since 2004. It has been a long drought that fans have had to endure, but now they have an opportunity to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. Standing in front of them is a team that just did the unthinkable. The Florida Panthers beat the 65-win Boston Bruins with a 4-3 overtime win in Boston in Game 7.
The Bruins were not only the President's Trophy winner this year. They set the NHL record for most wins and most points in a season in the history of the sport. To say the Panthers will go onto the road with confidence the rest of these playoffs is an understatement.
An interesting aspect to this series is the Auston Matthews vs. Matthew Tkachuk conversation. They are arguably the two best American born hockey players on the planet right now and will square off.
So, let's dive right in and take a look at the Maple Leafs-Panthers preview.
Scoring Will Not Be A Problem
This series should feature plenty of offense. Both the Maple Leafs and the Panthers entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs were two of the better offenses this season. The Panthers finished the regular season third in five-on-five expected and goals per game. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs ranked sixth and seventh respectively.
Florida's top goal scorer, Matthew Tkachuk, is playing very well coming in. He scored a team-high 11 points (five goals, six assists) in their series against the Bruins. They also got some unexpected production from their blue line. Brandon Montour had a huge series, outplaying Boston's defenseman and finishing with five goals and three assists.
The Maple Leafs will counter with a very deep, offensive skilled attack. They finally put their playoff demons to bed, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Granted, the Lightning were not nearly as good as the Bruins this year. Conversely, they also had not lost a series against an Eastern Conference opponent in over three years. Yeah, remember, three straight Cup appearances, winning twice.
Yet, Toronto had very little problem getting pucks past Andrei Vasilevskiy. They scored 20 goals during Games 2-5 and finished off the Lightning with a 2-1 win on the road.
No Lead Will Be Safe
Not only do both the Panthers and Maple Leafs possess offensively skilled clubs. They also lack an elite goaltender. The Maple Leafs will start Ilya Samsonov, who is solid in net, but nothing to write home about. He finished the Lightning series with a .900 save percentage and a 3.14 goals against average.
Things don't get any better on Florida's side. They began their Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Bruins having Alex Lyon in net. He played in the first three games of the series, posting a 1-2 record with uninspiring numbers behind it. Lyon was replaced by Sergei Bobrovsky.
Even though the Panthers won their final three games, it was not because of the wiley vet in goal. His numbers were even worse than Lyon's. Bobrovsky posted an atrocious 3.94 GAA and .892 save percentage. The offense and particularly special teams that carried the day.
Five of the last six games between these clubs have gone to overtime. That includes the Panthers' only win this season on March 29th. The Maple Leafs won the other three games.
Maple Leafs-Panthers Prediction
This is likely going to be a long series. But I am going to take the underdog here. Let's not forget, this is almost the same Florida Panthers team that won the President's Trophy last season. Their third line might very well be the difference, with Sam Reinhart coming off a strong series.. The line played exceptionally well against Boston and could be a key in this series.
The Bruins had the best penalty kill unit in hockey by a wide margin. Yet, the Panthers scored on four of their last nine power play opportunities. Special teams will play a big part in determining the winner here, as usual.
I'll take the Panthers in seven games.
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