Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers will meet again in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and now, Home-Ice Advantage flips, a few familiar faces in the new jersey.

Toronto advanced after defeating the Ottawa Senator in a 4-2 series, while the Panthers eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. The first game is scheduled to be held Monday night in Toronto at 8 p.m. ET.

Leafs head coach Craig Berube admitted his team's challenges as they prepare to face the defending champion.

"They are obviously Stanley Cup champions, so they're a really good team," Beruber said. "They have a lot of good stuff and it's hard to compete with. You know, I can keep going, but now isn't the time."

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, who coached Leaf between 2006 and 2008, praised Toronto's high-end talent in a radio interview on Friday's Joe Rose Show.

"They have four or five world-class people (their) hands not like the hands of others," Morris said. "So the skill levels these guys have always had have have have have have been dangerous."

NHL officially announces game 1 #LEAFS/Black Panther in Toronto at 8 pm on Monday. The remaining timeline will be announced.

- Terry Koshan 🇺🇦 (@koshtorontosun) May 3, 2025

Although Maurice praised his competitors, he also spoke extensively about the remaining level of competition in the playoffs, which clearly shows that there is no easy rival scramble.

"You're going to be in the top eight teams in the NHL," Morris said. "I don't think there's a Cinderella story here. These are elite teams. They all have people who can score, skate, fight.

“So it will be a very, very hard, tight series.”

Florida won three of three in four regular season games between the Panthers and the Leaf and beat five in the 2023 second round showdown.

The Panthers have won five straight playoff series in each of the last two years and reached the Stanley Cup final, winning the game last season.

Meanwhile, Toronto surpassed the first round only for the second time after participating in the semi-finals in 2004.

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