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The Florida Panthers Fear the Toronto Maple Leafs Fans

By Jeremy Ridgewell

TORONTO, CANADA - MARCH 29: Jake McCabe #22 of the Toronto Maple Leafs clears the puck away against Anthony Duclair #10 of the Florida Panthers during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 29, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Panthers defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - MARCH 29: Jake McCabe #22 of the Toronto Maple Leafs clears the puck away against Anthony Duclair #10 of the Florida Panthers during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 29, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Panthers defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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After the heroics of John Tavares in overtime of game six on Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs will now face the Florida Panthers in round two.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will have home-ice advantage for round two. Game one is on Tuesday, May 2nd, and game two is on Thursday, May 4th. Games three and four will then be in Sunrise, Florida, but Leafs fans were hit with a surprising message on Monday from the Panthers organization.

The Florida Panthers stated on Monday that tickets to their home games in round two will only be for residents of the United States. They stated that they will check credit card billing addresses and cancel any tickets bought from outside the US. Clearly, the Panthers are scared that Maple Leafs’ fans will outnumber their own fans, so they’re doing this to limit the number of Toronto fans.

I hope their plan backfires and Toronto fans from the US fill the arena with Blue & White. Florida’s management team must not know that Toronto fans are everywhere. They can try to limit the number of Maple Leafs fans that enter the arena, but they’re going to get a wake-up call for game three.

Toronto Maple Leafs Wanting More in Round Two

Now that the first-round dragon has been slain, the Toronto Maple Leafs want more. The hunger inside the locker room is growing. As great as winning round one is, it is just one step. Defeating the Florida Panthers is step two. A win in round two will take Toronto to the Eastern Conference Finals. Toronto has not been to the third round since 2002.

There are a few things to note from Toronto’s practice on Monday. Matt Murray took part in a regular session. Erik Kallgren was sent down to the Toronto Marlies. Head coach Sheldon Keefe went back to using a setup of 12 forwards and six defensemen in practice after using an 11-7 setup in game six of round one. Timothy Liljegren paired with Mark Giordano on the third pair, meaning Holl will likely be a healthy scratch for game one against the Panthers.

Projected Lineup for Game 1

Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – William Nylander
Calle Jarnkrok – John Tavares – Mitch Marner
Michael Bunting – Ryan O’Reilly – Noel Acciari
Zach Aston-Reese – David Kampf – Alex Kerfoot

Jake McCabe – T.J. Brodie
Morgan Rielly – Luke Schenn
Mark Giordano – Timothy Liljegren

Ilya Samsonov

The Leafs Get Extremely Lucky. dark. Next

Toronto’s regular season record against the Panthers is 3-0-1. They hope to win four more against their divisional rival. The series starts Tuesday night.

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