Betting line underdogs — despite home-ice advantage — the Maple Leafs are hoping to make a Game 1 statement as they enter the second round for just the second time in the Matthews era, two years after their slow start to the series cost them versus these Florida Panthers (8:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC/ESPN).

Keys to Game 1

via Anthony Petrielli (@APetrielli)

– It will be interesting to monitor which matchups Craig Berube tries to dictate on home ice. The idea of L1 versus L1 makes sense, knowing Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart against the Leafs‘ other lines is not an appetizing proposition. The Leafs can keep the Morgan Rielly-Brandon Carlo pairing with their top line and match up Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev against Florida’s Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk line. But we’ll see what route Berube ultimately takes.

– In the first round, the Leafs came out flying in G1, playing with pace and physicality. They need more of the same tonight. Get the crowd going, initiate physically, and play without fear against the Panthers.

– Berube clearly wants the Leafs to play whistle to whistle and not get caught up in the Panthers’ trap/nonsense.

– A lot of this series will be decided at both net fronts. Can the Leafs get inside on the Panthers’ big defense and make Sergei Bobrovsky uncomfortable? Can they box out the Panthers in front of their own net? There likely won’t be much easy offense available in this series, so the Leafs will need to really battle in front at both ends of the ice.

– We broke down the special teams in full earlier today, but one way the Leafs can limit the impact of Florida’s physicality is by making them pay on the man advantage. It’s also their best opportunity to produce against this Panthers team in general. Against a deep, elite Panthers penalty kill, the Leafs’ power play needs urgency, traffic, and shot volume. Set the tone in Game 1.

Game Day Podcast

Game Day Quotes

Craig Berube on his team as an “underdog” in the series: 

Any time you are playing the Stanley Cup champions, you are going to be the underdog, right? They have proven they are a great team over the last few years. They are a really good team, and we’re a good team, too. We are approaching this business-like — go out, do our job, and play the way we can.

Matthew Tkachuk on whether the Panthers are favourites in the series: 

I don’t think we are. We are on the road here to start, so they obviously had a better year than we did. We are going to relish that role and hopefully come out with a good start.

Tkachuk on the Panthers’ strength on the road in the playoffs: 

We don’t really change the way we play too much on the road or at home. We have a lot of experience in these big games. Starting on the road gives us an opportunity to get with each other quickly and get together with that “us vs. the world” mentality we’ve talked about for a few years now.

It seems like when we go up against the toughest tasks and the great teams, we relish the opportunity. Hopefully, we can do it again tonight and in this series because Toronto is one of the best teams in the league.

Mitch Marner on turning the page for a new series: 

It does help to reset with my son (being born) and relax in that way. It is a different game now and a different page. You have to get completely ready for a new challenge.

They are going to be ready. It is a team hungry over there to keep going. You are going to have to fight for every inch of space. We are going to have to make sure we’re talking and staying calm through everything. We’ll work through our plan and try to figure out ways to capitalize on their mistakes.

Craig Berube on expectations for birthday boy Mitch Marner in Game 1, coming off the birth of his son, Miles:

Haha, well, I expect the same game he always plays. He is in a good spot. A lot of good things — positive things — are happening in his life. He is ready to go for the second round now. Coming off the first round (win), the baby, the birthday — a lot of good stuff.

Marner on the challenge of facing Sam Bennett: 

Sam brings a lot of different attributes and skills to a team. I’ve known him for a long time. I grew up playing against him in different eras of our lives. He brings a lot of speed, a heavy shot, and he makes plays. Obviously, his physicality and willingness to get around the net and do things for his teammates are pretty high-end. You’ve seen that in the last couple of years in Florida.

I got to see it firsthand at Four Nations. He didn’t play in the first game. On his first shift of his first game, he fights one of the heaviest guys in the league and one of the craziest. He does a lot of things for his teammates, and you know he is going to bring it every single game.

You have to make sure you are ready to match that intensity.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson on whether he’s been helping his teammates with insights about his former team: 

Yeah. It is one thing I have been trying to help the guys out with here. I would say yes on that question, but it is obviously a new year and a new team, but when you have that experience, you are trying to pass that along to your teammates. I am trying to help in any way I can. I have been saying that all year. I’ve been trying to help everyone out here.

You are trying to touch on the details and on the big picture of what is making you successful. I don’t want to stand here and give everything away, but it is going to come down to hard work and doing the little things. That is what we are focusing on.

Paul Maurice on whether he’s concerned that OEL, Anthony Stolarz, and Steven Lorentz could share insider secrets about the Panthers’ game with their Leafs teammates: 

There are no Cinderella stories in the eight teams remaining. They are all really, really good teams. The one thing they all share is consistency.

You can watch. If you pick one of our games in the last series, and you pick one of Toronto’s games, you know what they do. There is no aberration. The good teams do the exact same thing over and over again. In the end, probably the team that wins is the most consistent team.

Everyone has their own culture and glossary that they use, but at the end of the day, between analytics, the video we get, and the software that we have to break it down, there are just no secrets. The most consistent team is the easiest team to pre-scout, but that team usually wins, so knowing what they do doesn’t help anybody.

Maurice on the differences in the Leafs’ game this season under Craig Berube:

Personnel would be one thing. It is quite a bit of a different-looking team. There are different names on the backend.

I think there is more patience in their game. Maybe in the past, there was an attack mindset offensively all the time. Now, they are more patient. They’ll put pucks deep. They’ll be more patient with the pucks out. It is a bit more of a mature game.

Maple Leafs vs. Panthers: Regular Season Statistics

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines

Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#67 Max Pacioretty — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#18 Steven Lorentz — #24 Scott Laughton — #19 Calle Jarnkrok
#74 Bobby McMann — #29 Pontus Holmberg — #11 Max Domi

Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #25 Brandon Carlo
#2 Simon Benoit — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Goaltenders
Starter: #41 Anthony Stolarz
#60 Joseph Woll

Extras: Nick Robertson, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Philippe Myers, Dakota Mermis, Artur Akhtyamov, Jani Hakanpaa

Florida Panthers Projected Lines

Forwards
#23 Carter Verhaeghe — #16 Aleksander Barkov — #13 Sam Reinhart
#17 Evan Rodrigues — #9 Sam Bennett — #19 Matthew Tkachuk
#27 Eetu Luostarinen — #15 Anton Lundell — #63 Brad Marchand
#10 AJ Greer — #8 Nico Sturm — #70 Jesper Boqvist

Defensemen
#42 Gustav Forsling — #3 Seth Jones
#77 Niko Mikkola — #7 Dmitry Kulikov
#26 Uvi Balinskis — #88 Nate Schmidt

Goaltenders
Starter: #72 Sergei Bobrovsky
#41 Vitek Vanecek

Suspended: Aaron Ekblad (one game remaining)

Pre-Game Reading: Maple Leafs vs. Panthers Series Coverage

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR