Your Toronto Maple Leafs bandwagon guide for Round 2 versus Florida

Hop connected the Toronto Maple Leafs bandwagon everyone, due to the fact that we're into the 2nd circular starting connected Monday night.

The Leafs got past the Ottawa Senators to seizure the "Battle of Ontario" past week. Next up: The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers — Game 1 is astatine Scotiabank Arena astatine 8 p.m. ET.

So, it's clip to drawback up the apical storylines with CBC Toronto's Adam Carter, our nonmigratory Leafs diehard whose humor unit we each interest astir astatine this clip of year.  

The Leafs made it past Ottawa. Adam, however large were the alarm bells successful your caput there?

It conscionable wouldn't beryllium the Leafs if they didn't marque you panic a small bit. After cruising to 3 awesome wins against the Senators and dropping a adjacent Game 4, each of those demons came roaring backmost for the fanbase aft a classical Toronto playoff no-show successful Game 5 (I, for one, could consciousness the anticipation starting to evaporate from my body).

But to the team's credit, they got things done successful a precise adjacent Game 6. A decent conception of the fanbase would person been apoplectic had Ottawa forced a series-deciding Game 7.

Take 1 infinitesimal to beryllium optimistic. What looked bully successful that series?

There were plentifulness of positives. The defence corps looked precise coagulated connected the whole, scoring overmuch much than it had successful the regular play connected apical of providing markedly amended defence than fans are utilized to seeing successful the playoffs. The summation of Brandon Carlo astatine the commercialized deadline truly helped everyone slot into their due spots connected the backmost end.

And though they didn't afloat instrumentality implicit the series, Toronto's champion players each contributed and got the occupation done. Those efforts were bolstered by cardinal goals astatine important times from extent players — similar Max Pacioretty's series-clinching wrister, oregon overtime winners from Max Domi and Simon Benoit.

The Leafs person been hopeless for playoff goals successful large moments similar that for years.

Couple that with unchangeable goaltending and a powerfulness play that really scored astatine a coagulated clip successful the postseason for a change, and fans should beryllium feeling bully (if you tin divorcement yourself from the preceding years of heartbreak and the behemoth to come, that is).

WATCH | Is this our year? Here's however fans felt aft the Leafs archetypal circular bid win:

And present the Panthers, who defeated Tampa 4-1 successful their opening series. They're good, right?

"Good" is underselling the Florida Panthers. 

They finished 10 points backmost of the Leafs this season, but they're the defending champs for a reason. That squad is well-coached, knows its identity, and seems specifically built for playoff hockey. 

My feeling is Florida is the favourite here, play standings beryllium damned. (Las Vegas betting likelihood besides favour the Panthers, for what it's worth.)

Who are their dudes? (AKA: who should america bandwagoners boo the most?) 

They person so, truthful galore dudes. Aleksander Barkov is 1 of the champion two-way centres successful the league (if not the best), and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky perfectly has the quality to bargain a crippled (or series).

But the biggest occupation the Leafs volition look is undoubtedly the trio of Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk. All 3 are capable to play the "rat" relation connected a squad to perfection, connected apical of having a estimation arsenic large crippled players who tin enactment the puck successful the nett erstwhile it counts.

Any 1 of those 3 guys could beryllium a fistful — truthful the imaginable of perchance having to look each 3 of them connected a enactment astatine erstwhile is, uh, sub-optimal. After years terrorizing the Leafs with the Bruins, Marchand present gets to bash truthful for a 2nd divisional rival, further proving that the Leafs mightiness really beryllium cursed.

Another Tkachuk?! Also wherefore bash radical telephone them 'rats'?

Yup. The bully quality is if the Leafs marque it to the adjacent circular there's nary much Tkachuks lying successful hold (unless Matthew and Brady's dad, Keith, comes retired of status and laces up the skates again).

Rats are players who deed thing that moves and bash everything successful their powerfulness to get into the different team's heads — beryllium it with a slash oregon scrum aft the whistle, a questionable deed or, successful Marchand's case, perchance licking someone's face.

That Marchand – who has earned himself the nicknames "Rat" — ended up connected a squad that celebrates by throwing fake rats connected the crystal seems astir excessively serendipitous (I reiterate: the Leafs are cursed).

A batch of folks look to beryllium predicting unit successful this adjacent round. What's that about?

Some of that is conscionable the benignant the Panthers play. It's a dense squad that forechecks hard and doesn't shy distant from post-whistle extracurriculars. 

Plus, it's harmless to accidental these teams conscionable don't similar each other.

It volition beryllium absorbing to spot however the Leafs respond to the accrued physicality, arsenic that's not an country successful which Toronto has typically excelled. 

This iteration of the squad does look to person players who are much comfy playing that style, though, similar erstwhile Panthers Steven Lorentz and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, arsenic good arsenic Pacioretty and Scott Laughton, who was large successful the Ottawa series. Toronto's new-look defence should basal up to the Panthers' forecheck a small better, too.

The Panthers steamrolled the Leafs successful the playoffs a mates years back, so present it's up to Toronto to beryllium they're not that squad anymore.

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