After going up 2-0 in the Battle of Ontario and now the Battle of the Atlantic, the Toronto Maple Leafs hold a 2-0 series lead in back-to-back series for the first time since 1963.
After Wednesday night's win, the Leafs head to Sunrise, Florida, with a chance to put away the defending Cup champs in four games. It's an outcome that has surprised many, especially after seeing how this core of Leafs faired against the Panthers when they last matched up in the second round in 2023, but have since got production in ways that haven't been there in the past.
Besides William Nylander being tied with Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl for the third most points in the playoffs, the Leafs shouldn't expect some of the production they are getting from other players to continue because it hasn't been there all season long.
Max Pacioretty and Morgan Rielly are tied with six points each, which is good for fourth best on this Leafs team. For a team that was one of the most top-heavy teams in the league during the regular season, you have to question how much longer-depth players like Pacioretty can sustain this level of production.
Along with being in the league's most top-heavy teams, the Leafs ended the regular season in the bottom half of the league with production coming from their blueline, but throughout this playoffs, it hasn't seemed to matter.
Leafs defensemen have recorded at least one point in each of Toronto's nine goals against the Panthers throughout these two games.
Much like the questions surrounding the depth scoring for this team, the Leafs' blue line has shown up at the perfect time, but is it sustainable in Sunrise? Here are three things they need to do to finish this series:
Joseph Woll's stopping power
Sure, you can discount Woll's performance in Game 1 when he came in for relief of Anthony Stolarz since it was Woll's first piece of action since the Leaf's last regular season game against the Detroit Red Wings, but it's hard to look past his .875 save percentage and 4.01 goals against in these two games against Florida.
Again, it must have been difficult for Woll to replace Stolarz, but his three goals against on 20 shots in Game 1 almost made the contest more interesting than it should've been.
Throughout these playoffs, Leafs netminders have had the pleasure of playing in front of a team that currently blocks the most shots of any squad during the playoffs, per MoneyPuck.com.
Leafs players putting their bodies on the line throughout these playoffs has done wonders for a team that has consistently been on the other end of a good shot attempt share, especially throughout this series against the Panthers.
Throughout these two games, Florida has dominated possession as they hold 65.06 percent of the shot attempt share through these two games, and it could eventually catch up for Toronto.
Blocking shots can only take you so far, and with Stolarz not traveling to Florida, the Leafs will need some part of Woll's .964 save percentage and 0.86 goals against from last year's playoffs.
Core needs to keep producing
If not for Nylander being on an absolute tear through these past two games, with his team-leading four points and the Leafs being up 2-0 in this series, we may be having the same questions surrounding this core four that have persisted throughout the last nine postseason runs.
Through the first two games of the second round, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares have a combined three points, and you can say what you want about Matthews having to deal with Aleksander Barkov every shift, but his $13.25 million contract doesn't pay him to just shut-down opposing players.
Marner has two points in round two and hasn't flashed his game-breaking talent so far in this series, while Tavares has been pointless in his last four games.
If the Leafs want to split their trip to Florida or close out this series in Sunrise, they will need notable performances from these three because relying on third-liners such as Pacioretty and Max Domi along with your Defenseman to provide sustainable scoring can only carry you so far, especially when the consistency of it has never been there.
Power play finds success
Florida sporting the playoffs second best penalty kill with the Dallas Stars shouldn't be the reason why this Leaf powerplay has gone 1-for-8; they have too much talent.
It's even more concerning that they've struggled on the man advantage against a netminder in Sergei Bobrovsky, who owns a .820 save percentage and a 4.70 goals against through these two games, per NHL.com.
It's there in front of Bobrovsky the Leafs should take advantage, as the Panthers apply pressure at the top of their defensive zone when they are on the penalty kill, so if Leaf players such as Marner, who typically quarterback the powerplay, can throw the puck more to the net, it can allow players such as Tavares and Matthew Knies to pounce on loose rebounds.
The Leafs should try to take advantage of a Florida team that currently ranks second in penalty minutes this playoffs because the Leafs haven't looked too good when the game is 5-on-5.