The Maple Leafs’ road to the Stanley Cup final might have got a little less bumpy on Sunday night.
Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas finally got it right in building a roster that is sturdy enough to handle the rigours of the post-season, as we saw against the Lightning.
Having said that, while the late-season additions of Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari, Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn were crucial in the Leafs’ success, the Leafs’ core has grown to the point that nothing fazes it. An example of that came in Game 4 against Tampa, when Auston Matthews put the team on his back in the third period, driving the Leafs to overcome a three-goal deficit to win in overtime. Teams that are unsure of themselves don’t win games that way.
In four meetings during the regular season, the Leafs and Panthers required overtime in three games to decide a winner. Toronto won two of those games and three of four overall..Now, Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, captain John Tavares and Morgan Rielly and the rest of the Leafs will look to build off the first-round success.
For the Panthers, Matthew Tkachuk, who will appear on more than a few Hart Trophy ballots , is the undisputed leader. Tkachuk, who agitates better than any other star in the NHL, has plenty of support in Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart. On the blue line, Montour, Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad head up a formidable group.
Behind the Florida bench, former Leafs coach Paul Maurice has seen it all. It will be fun and fascinating to watch Maurice and Sheldon Keefe try to out-do each other as the series progresses.Instead, the Leafs get the Panthers. Toronto is a better team than Florida.
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