They wanted Florida. Now the Maple Leafs get the Panthers in Round 2 again, for 2nd time in 3 years

Sometime during Round 1 of the Toronto-Ottawa series, Maple Leafs fans joined in unison and began chanting.

“We want Florida!”

They used the same chant in 2023, and even though that series didn't go to the Leafs' liking, they wanted a rematch — which will happen. The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers will open an Eastern Conference second-round series on Monday night in Toronto, the second time the teams will have met in Round 2 of the playoffs in the past three years.

Florida beat the Leafs in five games in 2023.

“They’ve had a significant change. Half our teams are different,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "So, there’s not much at all to be used from that series.”

Leafs defenseman Morgan Reilly said his club feels the same way.

“They have different people over there. We have different people in here,” Reilly said. “I think the playoff mindset in general remains the same, but I think that there’s differences with both teams and with structure and systems and whatnot.”

Toronto has 56 wins this season including playoffs, second most in the NHL behind Winnipeg. And Toronto has won 27 road games, the most in the league. The Leafs ousted Ottawa — and Brady Tkachuk — in Round 1 and now get Florida — and Matthew Tkachuk, Brady's brother — as their reward.

“It’s going to be probably a harder series, even,” said Leafs coach Craig Berube, who has made tons of right moves in Year 1 of his Toronto tenure. “We won the series, we’re past that now and we’re starting to focus on Florida and get prepared for Florida.”

The Panthers, bidding for a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, have more wins than anyone in the NHL over the past three seasons. And they're starting a series on the road for the seventh time in that span — going 4-2 in the previous Game 1s away from home since the start of the 2023 playoffs.

“We don’t mind it," Florida forward Evan Rodrigues said. “Going in, starting on the road and being able to steal one and trying to take the crowd out of it gives you a little extra boost, I would say.”

Florida went 3-1-0 in the season series against Toronto, outscoring the Maple Leafs 13-7 and outshooting the Leafs 117-93.

The Panthers peppered Toronto in those games; the 117 shots on goal obviously doesn't take into account 73 blocked shots by the Leafs in those four matchups.

Toronto probably learned in those four games that it cannot take unnecessary penalties. Florida went 5 for 11 on the power play in the season series, while Toronto went 1 for 9 — and gave up a short-handed goal to the Panthers as well.

It should be noted that both teams would say the regular season doesn't mean much; Toronto went 3-0-1 against the Panthers two years ago and Florida went on to win the postseason matchup in five games.

“The regular season doesn't tell you anything,” Maurice said.

Panthers forward Brad Marchand certainly knows his way around Toronto at this time of year.

No active player has more playoff games, goals, assists or points against the Maple Leafs than Marchand, a trade-deadline pickup by Florida.

Marchand has appeared in 28 playoff games against Toronto, with 10 goals, 19 assists and 29 points. He faced Toronto in four series while with Boston — all went seven games, and the Bruins won Game 7 every time.

Toronto has been running a power-play unit that's unusual — five forwards at times, playing to its strength. The primary group: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander and Matthew Knies.

It was lethal in Round 1 against Ottawa. The Leafs went 6 for 17 with the man advantage in that series, connecting on nearly 20% of their shots in those opportunities.

That was a far cry from how the power play was at the end of the regular season, when Toronto finished the season 6-for-31 in those spots over the final 14 games heading into the playoffs.

The Maple Leafs have three players — defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, forward Steven Lorentz and goaltender Anthony Stolarz — who were with the Panthers for their run to the Stanley Cup last season.

Maurice is one of three men who have coached both Florida and Toronto. The others: Roger Neilson and Peter Horachek.

Most hockey aficionados know — and Toronto fans are acutely, perhaps even painfully aware — that the Maple Leafs haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1967, which also happened to be the last season in which the team made it to the title series.

This one might be equally hard to fathom: Toronto hasn't even gotten past Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2002. In fact, this is only the third trip for the Leafs to this round in that span — they lost to Philadelphia in 2004 and Florida in 2023.

Toronto has used 361 different players and eight different coaches — Maurice among them — in that span since its last trip to the NHL's final four.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Ottawa Senators' Brady Tkachuk (7) shakes hands with Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews (34) after the Maple Leafs defeated the Senators to eliminate them from the NHL hockey playoffs in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Maple Leafs' William Nylander (88) reacts after scoring an empty-net goal against the Ottawa Senators during the third period of Game 6 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen (27) celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning with center Carter Verhaeghe (23) and center Aleksander Barkov (16) during the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Dallas (7-8-1) at N.Y. Giants (3-13)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox

BetMGM NFL Odds: Cowboys by 3 1/2

Against the spread: Cowboys 7-9; Giants 7-8-1

Series record: Dallas leads 78-47-2.

Last week: Cowboys beat Commanders 30-23; Giants beat Raiders 34-10.

Last meeting: Dallas beat Washington 40-37 in OT on Sept. 14.

Cowboys offense: overall (1), rush (9), pass (1), scoring (4)

Cowboys defense: overall (30), rush (t20), pass (32), scoring (32)

Giants offense: overall (15), rush (6), pass (21), scoring (21)

Giants defense: overall (29), rush (30), pass (20), scoring (26)

Turnover differential: Cowboys minus-8; Giants minus-3

QB Dak Prescott has a 14-game winning streak against the Giants since two of his losses in a 13-3 rookie season in 2016 came against them. It’s the second-longest winning streak against a single opponent in NFL history behind Bob Griese, who beat Buffalo 17 consecutive times from 1968-79. Prescott will get credit for a Dallas victory because he is expected to start. The question is how long he will play in a finale with no playoff implications. Either way, this will go down as one of Prescott’s best seasons. He enters the final week first in the NFL with 4,482 yards passing.

WR Wan'Dale Robinson gets to put the finishing touches on his case for a new contract, either with the team that drafted him or elsewhere. Robinson last week became the first player 5-foot-8 or shorter to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving since 5-7 Richard Johnson in 1989 and just the third since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. And he's playing against a Dallas secondary without Trevon Diggs, who was released on Tuesday.

Cowboys' offensive line vs. Giants' pass rush. New York's Brian Burns trails only Cleveland record-chasing Myles Garrett in sacks with a career-high 16 1/2, while rookie Abdul Carter has heated up with 3 1/2 over the past four games. Dallas would like to keep Prescott upright, no matter how long he plays.

Cowboys: RBs Javonte Williams (stinger) and Malik Davis (calf/eye) have been ruled out. The backs with a chance to be active have 54 career carries among them: FB Hunter Luepke (32) and rookies Jaydon Blue (22) and Phil Mafah (0). Mafah has been out all season with a shoulder injury, and is listed as questionable ... LB DeMarvion Overshown and rookie CB Shavon Revel have been dealing with concussions and won't play.

Giants: Two starters in the secondary are out: CB Cor'Dale Flott (knee) and S Jevon Holland (knee/concussion).

The Cowboys have won nine in a row against the Giants and 16 of the past 17. It's the longest active series in the league. Dallas' last winning streak this long was against Carolina from 1998-2012. ... Each team has been eliminated from playoff contention. ... The Cowboys are trying to avoid consecutive losing seasons for the first time since going 5-11 under coach Dave Campo from 2000-02. ... New York can still secure the top draft pick with a loss and Las Vegas victory against Kansas City or could drop as low as No. 7. ... This is expected to be interim coach Mike Kafka's final game with the Giants.

Cowboys WR George Pickens needs 80 yards receiving to reach 1,500 in his Dallas debut after the offseason trade from Pittsburgh. His only 1,000-yard season in three years with the Steelers came in 2023, when he had 1,140. … Ferguson needs one touchdown catch to tie the franchise tight end record of nine, held by Jason Witten and Billy Joe Dupree. … In their Week 2 game, K Brandon Aubrey had a tying 64-yard field goal on the final play of regulation and a winning 46-yarder as time expired in overtime in the 40-37 Dallas victory. ... Giants rookie QB Jaxson Dart has accounted for 22 TDs (13 passing and nine rushing) with just five interceptions, in his first 11 professional starts. ... Robinson led the team with 113 yards receiving at Las Vegas. He had 142 in Week 2 at Dallas, which was before top receiver Malik Nabers was knocked out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. ... LB Bobby Okereke intercepted Geno Smith and had seven tackles last week. ... CB Deonte Banks returned a kickoff 95 yards for a TD against the Raiders.

Daily fantasy players might be able to cash in if Giants RB Tyrone Tracy has another big game rushing and receiving.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

FILE - Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) is sacked by Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) during a NFL football game against the New York Giants on Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Patterson, File)

FILE - Dallas Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens (3) carries the ball after reception during a NFL football game against the New York Giants on Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Patterson, File)