3 Keys: Maple Leafs at Panthers, Game 4 of Eastern 2nd Round

(2A) Maple Leafs at (WC2) Panthers

Eastern Conference Second Round, Game 4

Florida leads best-of-7 series, 3-0

7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS

SUNRISE, Fla. --The Florida Panthers are on the brink of sweeping the Toronto Maple Leafs after winning the first three games of the Eastern Conference Second Round and six straight in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But the Panthers aren't feeling cocky about their position in the series heading into Game 4 on Wednesday.

"For us, we don't even look at it like it's 3-0," forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "We're just coming in here and trying to win that game day."

Florida can advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in its history; the Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1996, when they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche.

RELATED: [Complete Maple Leafs vs Panthers series coverage]

If Florida is able to complete the sweep, it would become the fourth team in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68) to sweep an opponent at any point in the playoffs after entering as the lowest-seeded team, joining the 2021 Montreal Canadiens (second round against the Winnipeg Jets), 2017 Nashville Predators (first round against the Chicago Blackhawks) and 1993 St. Louis Blues (Division Semifinals against the Blackhawks).

The Maple Leafs are trying to prevent all of that from happening and keep their season alive.

"For us it's about having the belief, the confidence in our group," Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly said. "We've got to go out and win one game and take it from there. It's about the belief and inner confidence."

Only four teams in NHL history have ever come back to win a series after going down 3-0: the 1942 Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings in the Cup Final, the 1975 New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Quarterfinals, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings against the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference First Round.

The Panthers want to make sure there isn't a fifth.

"We know we're not done here," Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling said. "They're going to come out flying."

Here are 3 keys for Game 4:

1. All eyes on Woll

After Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov sustained an upper-body injury in Game 3, the start will go to Toronto's goalie-of-the-future Joseph Woll, a huge spot for the 24-year-old rookie who will be tasked with keeping the season alive.

"As I've been maintaining here, we've got lots of confidence in him, so we're excited for him to have that opportunity," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

Woll is 9-2-1 with a 2.38 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and one shutout in 11 NHL regular-season games and has played two games this postseason, each in relief of Samsonov.

It's a lot of pressure on Woll, but he said Tuesday he is going to approach it like any other game. The Maple Leafs have to hope he's up to the task.

2. Goals from the core four

In their entire history together, the four biggest names on Toronto's roster -- centers Auston Matthews and John Tavares and forwards Mitchell Marner and William Nylander -- had never gone three straight games without any of them scoring a goal, until the first three games of the second round, according to NHL Stats.

It's clear the Maple Leafs need more from their most highly-paid and highest-profile players if they're going to win Wednesday and extend the series.

"They're really skilled, so you want to take away time and space from them," Forsling said. "If you give them time and space, you see them, they're great. But we want to shut them down pretty early."

3. Get it done

No one knows better than the Panthers how allowing a team on the brink to win can snowball. After all, the Boston Bruins were up 3-1 against Florida in the first round before the Panthers outlasted them in a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 5. Florida then won the next two games to take the series.

"Regardless of where the series is at, we know they're going to come out and give their best effort," Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura said. "So are we. Just regardless of what the score is, we're just coming to the rink just preparing to play our best game of the series."

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Calle Jarnkrok -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander

Alex Kerfoot -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner

Michael Bunting -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Noel Acciari

David Kampf -- Sam Lafferty

Jake McCabe -- Timothy Liljegren

TJ Brodie -- Justin Holl

Morgan Rielly -- Luke Schenn

Mark Giordano

Joseph Woll

Matt Murray

Scratched: Conor Timmins, Wayne Simmonds, Zach Aston-Reese, Erik Gustafsson

Injured: Ilya Samsonov (upper body), Matthew Knies (concussion), Jake Muzzin (neck), Victor Mete (upper body), Nicholas Robertson (shoulder), Carl Dahlstrom (shoulder)

Panthers projected lineup

Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Anthony Duclair

Nick Cousins -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Sam Reinhart

Zac Dalpe -- Eric Staal -- Colin White

Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad

Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour

Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas

Sergei Bobrovsky

Alex Lyon

Scratched: Givani Smith, Mike Benning, Casey Fitzgerald, Evan Fitzpatrick, Lucas Carlsson, Mack Guzda , Matt Kiersted, Grigori Denisenko , Aleksi Heponiemi, Mackie Samoskevich, Connor Bunnaman, Patrick Giles, John Ludvig, Santtu Kinnunen, Calle Sjalin

Injured: Patric Hornqvist (concussion), Ryan Lomberg (upper body)

Status report

The Maple Leafs did not hold a morning skate. … Toronto is expected to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for a second consecutive game. … The Panthers conducted an optional morning skate and will dress the same lineup they used in each of the first three games of the series. … Samoskevich, a forward, signed a three-year, entry-level contract Monday.

NHL.com independent correspondent Alain Poupart contributed to this report