Series Talk: Round 2: Leafs vs. Panthers

[Welsh Maple Leaf]

Looks like Woll is scheduled to start game 1 according to a sports sight. Doubt Sammy is hurt. Hopefully just a maintenance day.

I think he’s good - he’s had a few maintenance days before the series

 

[Strangle]

Panthers were last year's President's trophy winners and now that they're healthy, were the better team in the 1st round against this year's president's trophy.

They're not a typical 8th seed and not to be taken lightly. After all, we're relying on you guys to secure us the 17th overall pick.

I’m not ready to take any team lightly, Florida is a great team (obviously)

 

[AllHeartNoSkill]

Looks like Woll is scheduled to start game 1 according to a sports sight. Doubt Sammy is hurt. Hopefully just a maintenance day.

It would have to be more than maintenance if Woll is getting the start.

Did this site just see the practice group and ASSUME Woll was starting?

 

[Wiseguys]

It would have to be more than maintenance if Woll is getting the start.

Did this site just see the practice group and ASSUME Woll was starting?

No its a very reputable site. The Score is saying expected to start

 

[Schennanigans]

I wasn’t expecting it to start so soon on Tuesday. Hopefully we get a Florida team that’s still tired.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Boston out first round. Coloroda out first round. Leafs win first round.

2023 is Bizzaro World playoffs.

And what's the most bizzaro thing that could ever happen in the nhl? We all know what it is.

Maybe this really is the year.

 

[Kazparov]

Beating Tampa and Boston choked? Wtf is happening?

Hockey gods demanding a changing of the guard

 

[Plural]

Congrats for beatin TB! Leafs v. Cats will be a nice series.

From you guys POV, worrisome is that Barkov wasn't playing well and they still beat Boston. If Barkov wakes up, it might be a tough series. But as it stands, I root for Cats but predict 4-2 win for Leafs.

Anyways, Leafs have amazing core and I think this might be the year.

 

[LeafGrief]

Well, well, well. The rat killers killed the rat of all rats.

Leafs and Panthers both have momentum on their side now, should be a hard fought series. We'll lose the first game, Leafs in 6.

 

[stats1]

Gotta come out flying. Florida will be tired, gotta make Staal and Gudas turn and go back and get the puck, put pressure on them. Use our speed and skill and put pucks on net, Bobrovsky isn’t the best with rebound control

I’ve got Leafs in 6

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

The good news is this is the first time the Leafs are against a team in the playoffs that isn't elite defensively and doesn't have an elite goalie. They might be the most challenging offense that we've seen though, they are absolutely relentless

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Winning our 1st series and seeing the "historical" Bruins choke away a 3-1 series lead would be a magical weekend.

It was a magical weekend

 

[ToneDog]

Goalie Bob has now beaten heavily favoured Tampa as a Blue Jacket and Boston as a Panther

 

[Ulysses31]

Lightning was streets but leafs thug

 

[The Management]

Boston, Tampa, and though it affects us to a lesser extent, Colorado, are all out. The playoff feel wide open.

 

[Peasy]

Going back to Florida. I gotta say, I can't stand Florida's camera angle in their rink so not really looking forward to that. Feelings more confident then against Tampa, but it will still be a tough series. Leafs will need to play well defensively to win.

 

[ToneDog]

Well, well, well. The rat killers killed the rat of all rats.

Leafs and Panthers both have momentum on their side now, should be a hard fought series. We'll lose the first game, Leafs in 6.

I'm thinking we win game #1. Florida will make a harder push game #2. Sweep here and split in Florida and close them out in 5. Wishful thinking I know.

Boston, Tampa, and though it affects us to a lesser extent, Colorado, are all out. The playoff feel wide open.

Who could have predicted we'd draw the 8th seed in round two?? No excuses not to make it to ECF.

 

[TorMapleJays]

POLL please

Score app is showing Woll as the game 1 starter.

 

[Jojalu]

As we have witnessed for years( and not just from a Leaf perspective) the playoffs are impossible to predict. So many unexpected series results in the first round.

The Leafs are in tough agsinst Florida. Riding high after a huge comeback.

It won't because they are complacent, or don't care, or are soft or whatever reason we come up to explain why they lose.

This is a great opportunity to get to the ECF. The Leafs have the better roster. But as we have seen for years, that really doesn't mean much

 

[Rob Brown]

POLL please

Score app is showing Woll as the game 1 starter.

Score app is still drunk from Saturday.

 

[Strangle]

That, and frankly I think the Leafs matchup better with them.

Better forwards? Yup, I don’t care how hard people are polishing Tkachuk right now, and even if he was the best forward on either team and he isn’t, the Panthers don’t have an equivalent to Mitch-Willy-JT-RoR.

Better D? Yup. Montour and Mo are a push but beyond that the Leafs have better depth. You can’t play Ekblad and Montour against every single weapon the Leafs have - there will be times when Mahura and Gudas will have to face Matthews or Mitch, ask Tampa how Cole, Bogo and Serge did there.

Better goaltending? Maybe - it’s close. Bob has two Vezinas, one with an asterisk and his playoff numbers aren’t that great, even this year.

Better coaching? Again maybe - Keefe vs Maurice…

It’ll be a fun one with butt clenching moments but I think the Leafs stick to their plan they take it in six.

The Leafs should be the better team in every area. But they were against Columbus, Montreal and played better than Tampa last year.

Have they learned what it take to put away an opponent they should beat? Or will they play down to their competition? How will the special teams game play out? Is goaltending going to be a factor in the series?

GO LEAFS GO!

 

[GoonieFace]

Sticking with my Leafs in 6, although I had them beating Boston. Should be a fun series to watch.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Weirdly a lot of Montreal fans are going to be cheering for us since they own the Panthers 1st rounder

 

[SprDaVE]

You know how the Leafs played down to their opponent in the regular season constantly? I really hope we don't see that out of the Leafs in this series.

Should be an interesting match up.

 

[Zybalto]

You know how the Leafs played down to their opponent in the regular season constantly? I really hope we don't see that out of the Leafs in this series.

Should be an interesting match up.

Leafs were 3-0-1 vs. Florida this season so theres hope there even if the goal differential was closer that I would have liked (15-10)

I was one of the few out there saying Florida was a pretty bad draw for the Bruins seeing as Florida played them tough (2-2 against them during the regular season) and that Florida had great underlying numbers but crap goaltending all year. Ullmark having played only 2 playoff games (0-2) also played into it.

Florida is a solid playoff team that was great down the stretch and is as good as any team out there if they get solid goaltending.

Leafs should not be a massive favorite here, just a solid one with their home ice and advantages with depth. Florida is only one year removed from being the Presidents trophy winners and have shown they wont quit. I don't think much of Maurice as a coach (the guy had the best goalies in hockey and one of the best cores in the league and managed to screw it up) but I am worried about a team that thinks they can win any game against any opponent.