Can the Toronto Maple Leafs Make History on Sunday?
The Toronto Maple Leafs, one of the first teams to secure a playoff spot during this season, have not shown a reputation of playoff success within the last 20 years, but this season seems to be a turning point for the franchise. The Maple Leafs are currently in a second-round playoff series with the Florida Panthers, and both teams have won three games in this series. The Toronto Maple Leafs look to close this series off and enter their first Eastern Conference Final series since 2002. Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers are looking to win Game Seven and eventually become back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions. The last team any team became back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions was when the Tampa Bay Lightning achieved this in 2020 and 2021. That being said, how did both the Maple Leafs and Panthers get here?
In the first round, Toronto faced their provincial enemies in the Ottawa Senators. Both teams are in the Ontario province and have a fierce rivalry called The Battle of Ontario. In the first round, both teams faced each other for the first time in playoff history since 2004. Toronto won that series 4-2, after having a 3-0 series lead. The Florida Panthers, however, dominated their first-round opponent in the Tampa Bay Lightning. Florida won their first round series 4-1. In this round, Toronto previously had a 2-0 game lead in the series, but Florida managed to catch up in these past few games.
Standout Maple Leafs players throughout the first three games include William Nylander, Matthew Knies, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, and Max Pacioretty. Standout Panthers players throughout the first three games include Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett. Standout Maple Leafs players throughout the last three games include Max Domi and Auston Matthews. Standout Panthers players throughout the last three games include Sergei Bobrovsky, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Matthew Tkachuk. These standout players have been noted for their results on the ice, particularly in scoring and performing above the already-high standards that playoff hockey expects.
On May 18th, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. EST, the Florida Panthers go to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena to face the Maple Leafs. Toronto has not seen the Maple Leafs win a Game Seven at home since 2004, in the last Battle of Ontario playoff series prior to this season. In 2004, Scotiabank Arena was called the Air Canada Centre, meaning Toronto has never won a Game Seven at home under the current arena name. The Maple Leafs have also not won a Game Seven at all since the previously mentioned 2004 series. They have been 0-6 in Game Sevens since then. The winner of this May 18th game wins not only the series, but faces the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.
