Maple Leafs focused, ready for confident Panthers in East 2nd Round

TORONTO -- When Morgan Rielly was asked what he thought of Game 7 between the Presidents' Trophy winning Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers, the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman was succinct in his assessment.

"With no disrespect whatsoever to Boston, I think the better team won," Rielly said Monday. "They played hard and never gave up. They are a very tough opponent."

The Panthers won the final three games of the best-of-7 series after trailing 3-1, capped by a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 7.

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round series will be at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS)

"They earned the right to have the confidence after knocking off a team like Boston," Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews said. "I'm sure they're going to be coming in here with confidence. But I think you can say the same about our group. We have to refocus and get ready to battle here and just be happy and excited about the opportunity we have in front of us."

The Maple Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in overtime in Game 6 on Saturday to win a playoff series for the first time since 2004. They made NHL history as the first team to win three road games in overtime in a series, and they had been 0-10 since 2018 in games with a chance to eliminate an opponent.

"It remains to be seen how (finally pushing through) affects us," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "It certainly is a sense of relief and you take a bit of a breath, it was a big step and hurdle that we've finally pushed through here to earn the right to play in Round 2. But now the challenge for us then is to use that as fuel to continue to get better and go rather than get comfortable. You want to be confident. Yet comfortable or complacent, there's no room for that in the playoffs, certainly not in Round 2."

Maple Leafs goalie Matt Murray practiced for the first time since sustaining a head injury against the Detroit Red Wings on April 2 but will not be available for Game 1. Joseph Woll will continue to back up Ilya Samsonov.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he sees several similarities in how the Maple Leafs play compared to the Bruins, lessening the impact of the quick turnaround from the Game 7 win in Boston on Sunday.

"Toronto actually plays very similar systems to Boston," he said. "So from a coach's point of view, there's not as much gear changing that has go on in your room to prep your team. I would agree it's a different style. So what you do with the puck, probably a little bit more speed for the forward lineup. Not as heavy up front. They do get to the net very well. This one's going to be interesting."

The Panthers, who were swept by the Lightning in the second round last season, will be without forward Ryan Lomberg, who is week to week because of an upper-body injury sustained in Game 1 against the Bruins that became too much to play through after Game 4.

Maurice made it clear that while he wanted his players to cherish their victory against the Bruins that few outside the Florida dressing room thought possible, he said it was far from enough to make him satisfied.

"I feel it's one of those special moments that we get to keep," Maurice said. "What's interesting about it, because I got this question yesterday: are you satisfied? It's actually makes you thirsty. It makes you want more to have something special happen beyond the first round. I do feel it was special."

NHL.com independent correspondent Alain Poupart contributed to this report