Maple Leafs vs. Panthers Game Day Preview: Round 2 Game 2

Now, heading into Game 2, no one really knows how the Leafs will respond—especially when it comes to Bennett. But if you ask head coach Craig Berube, his message is pretty clear.

“If you think you’re going to get back at Sam Bennett and end up in the penalty box, we don’t need that… We’re going to play disciplined,”

The question is whether someone in blue and white will lose their cool and take a run at Bennett, but if Berube has his way, the focus will be on playing smart and taking care of business in Game 2.

Team Stats

Toronto Maple Leafs
Playoff Record: 5-2
Series Record: 1-0

Top 5 Scorers:

1. William Nylander: 5 G, 7 A, 12 P
2. Mitch Marner: 1 G, 8 A, 9 P
3. Auston Matthews: 2 G, 5 A, 7 P
4. John Tavares: 3 G, 2 A, 5 P
5. Matthew Knies: 4 G, 1 A, 5 P

Goalie Stats:

1. Anthony Stolarz: 4-2, 2.19 GAA, .901 SV%
2. Joseph Woll: 1-0, 6:05 GAA, .850 SV%

Florida Panthers
Playoff Record: 4-2
Series Record: 0-1

Top 5 Scorers:

1. Sam Bennett: 4 G, 2 A, 6 P
2. Matthew Tkachuk: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P
3. Sam Reinhart: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
4. Eetu Luostarinen: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
5. Anton Lundell: 2 G, 3 A, 5 P

Goalie Stats:

1. Sergei Bobrovsky: 4-2, 2.69 GAA, .887 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

Scratched: Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich, Uvis Balinskis

Game 2 Prediction

For Game 1, I had the Maple Leafs winning 4-2 with Mitch Marner leading the charge. While Marner had a solid night, it was William Nylander who stole the show with three points. He’s now tied with Mikko Rantanen for second in playoff scoring.

Looking ahead to Game 2, I’m going to ride the momentum and bet on another big night from Nylander. My prediction: the Maple Leafs take it 6-4 and head to Florida with a 2-0 series lead.