The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers continue their second-round series tonight with Game 3. The Maple Leafs are looking to keep the good times rolling with another win to give them a 3-0 series lead. As for the Panthers, they’ll be looking to try and get back into it and cut the series lead in half.
The win on Wednesday may have been the best Maple Leafs playoff win in the Auston Matthews era. The game was a rollercoaster that saw both teams hold a lead, but when the Panthers tied it at 3-3, there was a sense that Toronto was going to lose. However, they responded less than 30 seconds later with a sweet snipe by Mitch Marner and held onto the lead until the final horn.
It should be noted that it wouldn’t have been possible without Joseph Woll playing as well as he did. Florida threw just about everything at the Maple Leafs’ net in the last five minutes, and he shut the door. There was some thought he might struggle after only playing one relief appearance in Game 2 over the last 20 days. But once again, he proved the doubters wrong and played very well. It seems that he will get the start for Game 3 and potentially the rest of the series. Head coach Craig Berube didn’t provide too much detail on Anthony Stolarz but did say he won’t travel with the team to Florida.
Team Stats
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playoff Record: 6-2
Series Record: 2-0
Top 5 Scorers:
- William Nylander: 6 G, 7 A, 13 P
- Mitch Marner: 2 G, 8 A, 10 P
- Auston Matthews: 2 G, 6 A, 8 P
- Morgan Rielly: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P
- Max Pacioretty: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
Goalie Stats:
- Anthony Stolarz: 4-2, 2.19 GAA, .901 SV%
- Joseph Woll: 2-0, 4.01 GAA, .875 SV%
Florida Panthers
Playoff Record: 4-3
Series Record: 0-2
Top 5 Scorers:
- Anton Lundell: 3 G, 5 A, 8 P
- Eetu Luostarinen: 2 G, 6 A, 8 P
- Brad Marchand: 1 G, 6 A, 7 P
- Sam Bennett: 4 G, 2 A, 6 P
- Matthew Tkachuk: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P
Goalie Stats:
- Sergei Bobrovsky: 4-3, 2.90 GAA, .876 SV%
Projected Lineups
There are just projections, these lineups are subject to change before the drop of the puck
Toronto Maple Leafs:
Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty — John Tavares — William Nylander
Bobby McMann — Pontus Holmberg — Max Domi
Calle Jarnkrok — Scott Laughton — Steven Lorentz
Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Joseph Woll
Matt Murray
Injured: Anthony Stolarz (upper body)
Scratched: Jani Hakanpaa, Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, David Kampf, Artur Akhtyamov, Nicholas Robertson
Florida Panthers:
Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich — Nico Sturm — Jesper Boqvist
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt — Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vítek Vaněček
Scratched: Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich, Uvis Balinskis
Game 3 Prediction
My Game 2 prediction was very close. I picked the Maple Leafs to win 4-2 with William Nylander leading the way, and they won 4-2. Nylander did show up and had a big goal to help Toronto take a commanding 2-0 lead.
Related: 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2 Hub
I do think Game 3 will be different since it’s in Florida. However, I’m sticking to my bias and picking the Maple Leafs to win 3-2, on the backs of the top line of Matthews, Matthew Knies, and Mitch Marner.
