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Florida Panthers vs Toronto Maple Leafs Preview
We've arrived to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and it'll be as second straight divisional opponent in the postseason for the Florida Panthers. It was a 4-1 series victory for the Panthers in the first round against rivals the Tampa Bay Lightning who at point looked like they would force a game six. It was a series that saw the return of Matthew Tkachuk from his injury sustained in the Four Nations tournament.
When we look at the record for the Panthers this season against the Maple Leafs it ended with a 3-1-0 record. The Panthers took the first game 5-1 on November 27th at home with the second meeting taking place on March 13th in which was a 3-2 victory for Florida. April 2nd saw the Maple Leafs take one away from the Panthers defeating them 3-2 as the season was winding down. Just days later on April 8th it was the Panthers coming away with a 3-1 victory.
Although the Panthers defeating the Maple Leafs three times this season out of four meetings it would be Toronto who would carry the division with Florida taking third place right behind Tampa. As we saw in the first round the fina results in the division doesn't matter for the defending champions. The Maple Leafs will have the home advantage because of the higher seeding. The Maple Leafs enter the second round after defeating the Ottawa Senators in the first round taking the series 4-2. The Panthers are favored to take the series and advance to their third straight Eastern Conference Finals.
Written by: Daniel Torres
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