FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers need a victory.
While Game 3 isn’t technically a must-win game for the defending Stanley Cup champions, nothing good can come from losing the first three games in a best-of-7 series. And that's the hole the Panthers could face after losing Games 1 and 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference Second Round.
They will try to reverse that in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC) as they play at home for the first time in the series.
"Every game is a big one, for sure," Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. "We didn't get the job done in Toronto. We had some good moments in the games, but we also had bad moments. So we'll learn from those. Now we have a great opportunity and challenge to beat them on home ice and be a little better than we were in Toronto."
To do that, the Panthers will turn to their defense. It is their identity and their best chance to win.
As coach Paul Maurice said when asked about the Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett combination, "We're really not particularly concerned about our offense. … We went out on the road, scored four [in Game 1] and scored three [in Game 2]. We would expect to win both of those games on those numbers, based on the way that we play the game. Offense is not where our focus needs to be."
For the Maple Leafs, this marks their first 2-0 series lead after the opening round since the 1987 Norris Division Final. If they are able to grab a 3-0 lead in the series, it would be the first time since 1948, 77 years ago, that they had taken multiple best-of-7 3-0 series leads in the same postseason; they led the Ottawa Senators 3-0 in the first round this year before winning that series in six games.
The Maple Leafs know they will get some pushback from the Panthers. They just need to be ready for it.
"One hundred percent," Toronto forward Matthew Knies said. "Obviously it's a challenge taking a game on [Florida's] home ice. It's going to be a huge pushback. It's going to be the hardest game we've played so far. I think we're up for the challenge."
Teams that take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series own an all-time series record of 208-4 (.981), including 1-0 during the 2025 playoffs.
Here is a breakdown of Game 3:
Maple Leafs: While the Maple Leafs have gotten the best of the Panthers offensively, scoring nine goals in two games, they have scored most of those goals at even strength. They scored one goal on the power play in Game 2 after going 0-for-5 in Game 1. But it's not easy to do against Florida, which was 16-for-18 on the penalty kill against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. It's a group that Knies called "tenacious" Friday as he noted that the Maple Leafs need to find ways to create more opportunities while on the power play. Toronto is expected to have goalie Joseph Woll start again with Anthony Stolarz not traveling with the team for Game 3 after sustaining an undisclosed injury during Game 1.
Panthers: Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was fantastic against the Lightning, allowing 11 goals in five games during the first round. Against the Maple Leafs, he has allowed nine goals in the first two games. Bobrovsky will need to find his game, and will need his defense to help, against the high-powered Maple Leafs attack.
Number to know: 177. In eight playoff games, the Maple Leafs have blocked 177 shots, 15 more than the next closest team, the Washington Capitals (162, in seven games). Toronto's average of 21.15 blocked shots per 60 minutes of ice time is second to Washington's 22.84.
What to look for: Can William Nylander continue his hot streak? The Maple Leafs forward has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in eight playoff games. He's third in the NHL in playoff goals and tied for third in points. Can the Panthers get back to their identity, the way they shut down the Lightning in the first round, with stellar defense and a hard-nosed forecheck?
What they are saying
"The intensity level is just going to continue to rise as we go through here. We're back on their home ice, they're going to be ready to go. They're a veteran team with a lot of experience and they're going to want to have a response, so we've just got to be ready for that." -- Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews on how they approach Game 3
"You just don't want to be trying to hit a home run every time you get to the plate." -- Panthers coach Paul Maurice on managing his team based on the situation in each game, rather than the situation in the series overall
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Matthew Knies -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Bobby McMann -- Max Domi -- Pontus Holmberg
Steven Lorentz -- Scott Laughton -- Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly -- Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe -- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Joseph Woll
Matt Murray
Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, Nicholas Robertson, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Artur Akhtyamov, Dennis Hildeby
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Anthony Stolarz (undisclosed)
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich -- Nico Sturm -- Jesper Boqvist
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt -- Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: A.J Greer, Uvis Balinskis, Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna
Injured: None
Status report
Maurice said there could be game-time lineup changes for the Panthers because of health issues.
NHL.com independent correspondent George Richards contributed to this report
