Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 17: Maple Leafs hang on through late Panthers rally for Game 1 win
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop exciting action in the NHL as we witness history in another team looking to win a championship. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop of everything that happened in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.
The second round kicked off on Monday with a Game 1 matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, a rematch from their round two showdown from 2023. However, while that series saw the Panthers pull away quite quickly, the Leafs had other plans this time around.
It didn’t take long for the scoring to get underway, as William Nylander sniped the puck past Sergei Bobrovsky just 33 seconds in to give the Leafs the early lead. He added to that lead with another goal midway through the first, and the Leafs started off strong with a 2-0 lead.
THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG AT ALL!!!!!
📽️: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/7DdYNVgLGS
The Panthers did chip away at the lead with a Seth Jones seeing-eye shot from the point to cut the lead in half, but Morgan Rielly regained the Leafs two-goal lead just 19 seconds later. Then eight minutes into the second period, Chris Tanev’s point shot gave the Leafs a 4-1 lead. And as we all know, the Leafs have historically done well with 4-1 leads. But surprise, surprise, the Panthers creeped their way back into the game.
The chaos started with some issues with Anthony Stolarz. The Leafs netminder got bumped in the head by Sam Bennett in the second period, and while he didn’t leave the game initially, he had to a couple minutes later after vomiting on the bench, and Joseph Woll was in the game.
Stolarz was pulled after this collision with Bennett https://t.co/Xns4P1VzVd pic.twitter.com/CxWuBJlFW6
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 6, 2025Clearly Woll was a little bit cold, because the third period did not start out too well for him. Eetu Luostarinen needed just 99 seconds to cut into that three-goal lead, and then three minutes later, Uvis Balinskis made it a one goal game. The pressure was on for the Leafs, and it felt like very familiar territory.
Like the Leafs’ infamous 4-1 blown lead, we saw a player named Matthew get a key breakaway to help put the game away. While Matt Frattin failed to do that in 2013, Matthew Knies succeeded, beating Bobrovsky to make it 5-3 and give the Leafs some breathing room.
MATTHEW KNIES IS A GROWN MAN!!!!!!!
📽️: Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/OwZL2FYQL3
Bennett did make the Leafs a bit more nervous by scoring with two minutes left, but they never truly threatened after that, and hung on for a 5-4 win to take a 1-0 series lead. Nylander was the star of the show with the two goals and an assist for three points, while Woll managed to do just enough to get the win by stopping 17 of 20 shots.