Florida Panthers @ Toronto Maple Leafs
07:00 PM at Scotiabank Arena
Watch on: ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS

If you've forgotten, the Leafs are up 1-0 in this series.

Them

Aaron Ekblad is back from suspension, so the team is back to their standard configuration. No changes should be expected.

Lines

Daily Faceoff's projection.

Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues - Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer - Nico Sturm - Jesper Boqvist

Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola - Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt - Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek

Us

No changes to the forward lineup is likely.

Take a look at the order of the lines below. Daily Faceoff gets their "last game" lines from Natural Stat Trik, and simply uses the five-on-five ice time in the "Forward Lines" chart as the guide. The Laughton line most definitely was the third line. However, Max Domi and Bobby McMann both had more special teams' time on the power play than the third line did on the PK.

In terms of line order, the below represents the way the lines were rolled out in the first period, but the second period saw a completely different order, and the third was largely line one and line two alternating.

No Anthony Stolarz this morning, Matt Murray looks to be the backup tonight.

Lines

Last Game (2025-05-05) via Daily Faceoff - matches morning skate.

Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty - John Tavares - William Nylander
Steven Lorentz - Scott Laughton - Calle Järnkrok
Bobby McMann - Max Domi - Pontus Holmberg

Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Simon Benoit - Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Joe Woll - starter
Matt Murray

The Game

Consider the contrast of Marc Savard jumping around on the bench like a five year old who's been told they're going to McDonalds vs Craig Berube, who looks like he's in line at the passport office. Berube wants his style to prevail on the ice.

He did joke after game one that, when he was playing, someone would have retaliated on Bennett and it probably would have been him. That history is worth a thought too. He is intimately familiar with the all emo all the time style of hockey – as long as the emotion is violence or anger. And he doesn't want the Leafs to play that way.

I think he also fully understands the sneaky and dishonourable way the Panthers play the game. They whine, the coach whines, the players whine. Everyone is out to get them, oh, it's so hard to be them, and the ref, he's so mean, and all the media, and whinge, whinge, whinge. There is nothing more annoying that someone claiming they are the victim of some horrible media conspiracy all the time. Well, I mean, there are some things, but in the context of coaches whining, it's either the media or the refs who are in the bag for the other team, and seriously... get a grip.

It's possible my tolerance was used up by Travis Green, but I was instantly done with Paul Maurice the first time he ostentatiously bent down to look at the tablet in hopes he could find something about a goal to challenge. Berube has people to do that for him, and it's done quietly without fanfare.

In this tonal approach to the game, Berube is a perfect fit for four (randomly chosen) Maple Leafs players:

  1. Auston Matthews - this really is funny to him, and he will laugh at anyone who tries to rile him up.
  2. John Tavares - hockey is serious work, get away from him with your bullshit.
  3. William Nylander - the only time he talks to refs, it's cheerful and friendly, he's here to score goals and the other team barely registers.
  4. Mitch Marner - the people who whine occasionally about "puny" players on the Leafs never mention Marner, mostly because their complaint would seem even more ridiculous, but he isn't big. He's been a target of attempted intimidation his whole life. He spent years playing with Matthew Tkachuk, so he understands this game, but he does not engage.

However, the Leafs have some guys who can be shoved off balance with not much effort.

  1. Max Domi - his attempt to butt-end a guy on the faceoff in round one was the second time he'd been penalized for that same trick this season. He does not learn lessons. His vaunted playoff run with Dallas included some misconducts, and he's spent several 10-minute stretches out of games this season. Brad Marchand already knows how to wind him up.
  2. Oliver Ekman-Larsson - not only does he have a temper and a tendency to react to provocation, he seems to be a guy the refs think cannot draw a penalty. The Panthers must know they can actually get away with trying cheap tricks on him, and they all know exactly what pisses him off the most.
  3. Matthew Knies - he is at risk of taking penalties for being bigger than the other guy. He isn't afraid to hulk smash someone if they start in on him.
  4. Pontus Holmberg - he mostly draws penalties by never quitting on a battle, but that kind of playing style is emotional by definition.
  5. Simon Benoit - no brakes on this guy.
  6. The other Max - Pacioretty has become a big hitter in his dotage, and he isn't always very careful. Make him mad, and he might be not careful at all.

The word of the day is discipline. And Berube is right, the Leafs need to be businesslike and focused. The occasional laughing at stupid Panther tricks is totally fine, though.

Game CoverageMaple Leafs Playoffs