Congratulations, Maple Leafs. You grinded through 82 games and won your first Atlantic Division title, in part for the privilege of home-ice advantage through the conclusion of the division playoffs.
And what do you get for it? A matchup with the best road playoff team in recent memory. Gary Bettman鈥檚 NHL can be a cruel place, indeed.
If the Florida Panthers don鈥檛 look particularly homesick during Monday night鈥檚 Game 1 at Scotiabank Arena, it鈥檚 worth remembering they鈥檙e fresh off going 3-for-3 in road games in their first-round series win against archrival Tampa Bay. Going back to the beginning of Florida鈥檚 first of two straight runs to the Stanley Cup final in 2023, and including last year鈥檚 run to lifting the chalice, the Panthers have gone 18-8 on the road in the post-season, the best such record in the league over that span.
How the two teams stack up in the rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinal that Florida
The Leafs, meanwhile, are 4-8 at Scotiabank Arena during the same stretch. Which barely qualifies as a cold streak for a team that鈥檚 had a difficult time turning Bay Street into Yay Street in the playoffs. 海角社区官网is 12-20 at home during the post-season in the Shanaplan era.
So the Leafs earned home ice. It鈥檚 up to them to finally turn it into an advantage.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a prepared group. We鈥檙e ready to go,鈥 captain Auston Matthews said. 鈥淲e know the challenge that lies ahead.鈥
If the Leafs spent the last few days of the Ottawa series confronting their own historic demons, the skilled and deep Panthers are here-and-now devils. They鈥檙e the most penalized team in the league and the NHL leader in hits, complete with a cadre of veteran agitators聽鈥 Brad Marchand, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett聽鈥 with veritable PhDs in the art and science of pot stirring.
The take-no-prisoners Panthers led the NHL in hits during the regular season.
The Leafs are certainly talking an excellent game in the face of that threat. They鈥檝e paid homage to the Panthers鈥 best players. They鈥檝e acknowledged Florida鈥檚 status as the preeminent team in the sport. They鈥檝e played the underdog, despite occupying the upper seed.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e obviously king of the castle,鈥 Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz said of the defending champion Panthers.
The trick now is to make sure the Panthers don鈥檛 spend Games 1 and 2 crowning themselves the new kings of Toronto鈥檚 rink. The last time 海角社区官网and Florida met in the post-season, in 2023, the Panthers arrived for Game 1 in 海角社区官网and returned to the Sunshine State with a 2-0 series lead en route to a five-game drubbing. It鈥檚 hard to imagine this series will go deep if that bit of early-series history repeats.
Much has changed since 2023, of course. The Leafs have a revamped defensive corps, more promising goaltending and a new playing style under Berube. What hasn鈥檛 changed is Toronto鈥檚 penchant for less-than-inspiring performances in front of their famously high-paying home audience. The Leafs鈥 most recent work at their own rink was a 4-0 loss to the Senators in Game 5 of the first round that drew boos. The Leafs, at least, opened the Ottawa series with two home wins.
The Panthers, mind you, are way better. They faced the highest-scoring team in the league in the first round and limited them to five goals in three home games. How did they make the Lightning鈥檚 barn feel like their own?
Florida head coach Paul Maurice spent part of the weekend talking about how the road can be a haven for a playoff team. For one, it鈥檚 his experience that a travelling group is often better united in a sole focus away from the distractions of home.
For another: 鈥淲e鈥檝e never been a heavy (line-matching) team 鈥 What we do at home is pretty darn close to what we do on the road, so there鈥檚 not much change for us.鈥
海角社区官网forward’s wife Stephanie gave birth to their first child, a boy.
That, folks, is called a humble brag. Berube sounded envious in the lead-up to Monday.
鈥淧aul matches, and (Aleksander) Barkov鈥檚 their guy (as No. 1 centreman),鈥 Berube said. 鈥淏ut they have the luxury of having the (Anton) Lundell line (as their third line). Lundell鈥檚 an exceptional two-way centreman in the National Hockey League. So Paul鈥檚 not going to be worried or shy to get him out against our guys鈥
Berube said he鈥檒l take the opportunity to use the last change to optimize Toronto鈥檚 matchups. But the nature of Florida鈥檚 depth means avoiding one tough head-to-head often begets another.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always times you can get people away from their so-called shutdown people. But at the same time, you鈥檙e going to have to play against 鈥檈m,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to just keep grinding and work your way through it and wait for your opportunities and stay patient.鈥
In other words, the value of matching a line doesn鈥檛 compare to, say, the value of winning a night鈥檚 share of puck battles. Playoff hockey is not chess, but it does prize checkers. Matching lines is fine but, as Berube said on the weekend, pointing to a likely more impactful tack, 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to match their physicality.
鈥淭hey forecheck hard and they鈥檙e physical and they鈥檙e in your face the whole game 鈥 We鈥檙e a physical team, too. We鈥檝e got to go out and be physical ourselves. We鈥檝e got to initiate as much as possible.鈥
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