TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs will be seeking redemption when they meet the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.
It was two years ago that the Maple Leafs were eliminated by the Panthers in five games in the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now, with Craig Berube having replaced Sheldon Keefe as Toronto coach, Florida coach Paul Maurice sees significant differences in style and personnel between the current Maple Leafs team and the one it eliminated 24 months ago.
“They have more patience in their game,” Maurice said Monday. “Maybe in the past it was an attack mindset, kind of looking to go on offense all the time. Now they’re more patient. They’ll put more pucks in deep and are more patient getting pucks out [of the defensive zone].
“I would say maybe a more mature game.”
The biggest topic of discussion at the Maple Leafs’ morning skate wasn’t so much about facing the Panthers as it was about new dad and birthday boy Mitch Marner.
On Sunday, Marner and wife Stephanie celebrated the birth of their first child, a son named Miles. On Monday, Marner celebrated his 28th birthday. All that remains to seal the deal on a perfect 48 hours for the Maple Leafs forward would be a victory in Game 1.
Asked if he got much sleep Sunday night, Marner laughed.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I mean, I just sat there and cheerleaded. My wife was an absolute beast through it all. It was so impressive to watch.”
Marner said he would have returned to Toronto had Stephanie gone into labor while the team was in Ottawa for the first round against the Senators.
“Fortunately we won the series in six games, and then the baby came when we got back and had a few days,” he said.
As for the mission ahead of he and his teammates, Marner said he expects a tight-checking, at times suffocating series.
Marner is one of eight players still with the Maple Leafs from that 2023 series against the Panthers, along with forwards Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares, defenseman Morgan Rielly and goalie Joseph Woll.
“They’re a team that doesn’t give you a lot of space on the ice,” Marner said. “They make it hard for you to make plays. They’re in your face a lot with their pressure.”
Florida will see three familiar faces with the Maple Leafs who were members of its Stanley Cup team from last season: forward Steven Lorentz, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and goalie Anthony Stolarz, who drew praise from Maurice.
“His game from January on last year for us is exactly the guy you’ve seen all season from the Leafs,” he said. “He’s one of the wonderful personalities in the game that you cheer for.”
Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-7 series own an all-time series record of 531-249 (.681) including 6-2 during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
