By: Rod Pedersen
1 – WE HAVE A SERIES: A lot happens in a week! In what’s become a “homer” series, the Toronto Maple Leafs lead the Florida Panthers 2-games-to-1 in their second round Stanley Cup Playoff series. The Atlantic Division-winning Leafs won Games 1 & 2 by scores of 5-4 and 4-3 at Scotiabank Arena before the Panthers rebounded with a 5-4 OT win in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena Friday night. Let’s dig in …
2 – SWING GAME: As is usually the case, Game 3 was a pivotal one in the series. Had Toronto won it, and they certainly had all the momentum going in, they’d have gone up 3-0 in games and we’d likely have been looking at a sweep with Game 4 Sunday in Sunrise. And they started out hot Friday night before 19,842 fans at The Bank (with decidedly less Leaf fans in attendance than when the two teams met in 2023). Toronto’s Matthew Knies scored just 23 seconds into the game and teammate John Tavares made it 2-0 at the 5:57 mark of the first period. But this time, the Cats didn’t fold. “There was no panic,” veteran forward Sam Reinhart said afterwards.
3 – LEAF KILLER: March 7, 2025 may go down as a pivotal date in Panthers history. That’s the day Florida shockingly acquired 36-year old Brad Marchand from the rival Boston Bruins at the NHL Trade Deadline and the trade has paid almost immediate dividends. Marchand scored the winner Friday night – at 15:27 of overtime – for his second goal of the playoffs. He has a history of being Toronto’s biggest thorn, being 4-0 all-time in playoff series against the Buds going back to his Boston days. With Friday’s OT winner, he became the oldest player in Panthers history to score a playoff OT game-winning goal. Marchand turns 37 on Saturday! (May 10)
4 – THE NUMBERS: It shouldn’t be shocking to anyone that this series is as tight as it is (all 1-goal games). The Panthers have outshot the Leafs 93-81 through three games, outhit them 154-109, yet Toronto has had more powerplays (12-8). What is shocking is that Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed 13 goals so far, yet none to Toronto captain Auston Matthews. If both players are getting better as the series goes on, look out!
5 – TORONTO CREASE: The series took a nasty turn in Game 1 when famed Florida pest Sam Bennett “collided” with Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz in the second period. The pair were teammates on last year’s Stanley Cup champion Panthers squad. Stolarz left the game immediately, was seen vomiting at the Leafs bench, and has yet to return to the series. The NHL looked at the contact and deemed no suspension was necessary. Joseph Woll has been in net for Toronto since, and has performed admirably. Matt Murray was recalled from the minors to be the back-up.
6 – TORONTO MEDIA: If you didn’t know already, the Panthers are facing a much different animal in this series. It’s not just the Leafs, but it’s the Toronto media too. In fact, Canadian media. I opened my phone the morning after Game 1 and the first headline I saw from a national website was “Here’s Why Sam Bennett Should Be Suspended”. (Again, he wasn’t). Meanwhile TSN – Canada’s ESPN – was asking viewers if the Leafs should look for payback on Bennett in Game 2. Sometimes you wonder if these people know the game of hockey at all? In the playoffs, you take a number and get him back next year.
7 – GAME 4: The Panthers will look to even the series Sunday night at Amerant Bank Arena in a 7:30 start. There’s absolutely no reason to expect they won’t win it, and send this thing back to Toronto tied 2-2 for Game 5 on Wednesday.
8 – AROUND THE NHL: We’re in Round 2 and at the time of this writing, the other series look like this: Washington-Carolina (Series tied 1-1), Vegas-Edmonton (Oilers lead 2-0) and Winnipeg-Dallas (Series tied 1-1). There have been some miraculous feats recorded during these Stanley Cup Playoffs making this one of the best springs in years. For instance …9 – OIL COUNTRY: The Oilers went down 0-2 in games to the L.A. Kings in Round 1, however they’ve rattled off six consecutive victories since. They’ve all been comeback victories too; one off the NHL playoff record of seven, held by the 1985 Kings and 2017 Jets. The turnaround coincides with a goaltender change – Calvin Pickard replacing Stuart Skinner in the Oilers crease – and the Moncton, NB product became the first Oiler goalie since Grant Fuhr in 1985 to go 5-0 in the playoffs. Presumably his sixth straight win set an Oiler record. I haven’t seen an update on that stat. … Meanwhile in Dallas, forward Mikko Rantanen became the first player in NHL history to record back-to-back playoff hattricks and they came at a dire time; in Game 7 of Round 1 versus Colorado and in Game 1 of Round 2 versus Winnipeg.
10 – MORE AROUND THE NHL: In the wake of their fourth consecutive playoff loss to Edmonton, the L.A. Kings fired General Manager Rob Blake. … Former Panthers coach Joel Quenneville was named head coach of the Anaheim Ducks this week. The 3-time Stanley Cup winning coach, and second all-time winningest in regular season history, has been out of hockey since being forced to resign in November 2021 from the Panthers for his role in the Chicago Blackhawks scandal dating back to 2010. The 66-year old Quenneville was reinstated by Commissioner Gary Bettman last summer. … Speaking of Bettman, the Commish met with reporters prior to Game 3 in Sunrise and among the things discussed, he said the NHL is seriously considering expanding to Atlanta. Bettman said the fact two past franchises have failed there has “no bearing” on any future success in the Peach State. He’s also pleased with TV ratings and attendance in these playoffs, and said talks on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association are progressing well.
See you at the rink!
(Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the award-winning Cats N Bolts Podcast and the daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV, YouTube Live & Podcast)
