The satisfaction that the Toronto Maple Leafs enjoyed with their series victory over the Ottawa Senators will be short-lived. The Leafs have only a brief respite before their series against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, a series that will test Toronto’s ability to rise to the occasion.
The Panthers went through the Tampa Bay Lightning like a hot knife through butter in the first-round series that was expected to be a war. The five-game rout of their interstate rival proved to many that Florida is fully capable of going back-to-back in spite of their roster being depleted by free agency.
Florida lost defensemen Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, forwards Nick Cousins, Kevin Stenlund, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Lomberg, and goalie Anthony Stolarz, traded goalie Spencer Knight, but plugged holes with the acquisitions of role players like AJ Greer, Nate Schmidt, and Niko Sturm, and then dealt for big blueliner Seth Jones and super-pest Brad Marchand before the deadline.
It is not going out on a limb to say the Leafs will need the core group to produce during the series, but even more important is their ability to weather the storm that the Panthers will produce and push back when they need it. The addition of Marchand to a group that already has Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk borders on overkill. Toronto allowed Ridly Greig to get under their skin early in the Ottawa series, but his being undisciplined and the Leafs power play kept him in check.
Florida was relentless against Tampa Bay, with Aaron Ekblad taking Brandon Hagel out of the series in retaliation for his hit on Aleksander Barkov in Game 1. Tkachuk ran Jake Guentzel in Game 3 after the result of the game was already determined. Bennett has a history of dirty hits, as the pending free agent took out Matthew Knies with a hit behind the net in the Leafs second-round loss two years ago.
Undoubtedly, there will be targeting of Toronto players in this series, and Leafs players like Scott Laughton, Max Domi, Jake McCabe, and Simon Benoit will have to be the protectors of the club’s stars. Head coach Craig Berube is likely not to change his lineup to start the series, but if things get out of hand (which is likely to occur), one card for the Leafs to play is the insertion of Ryan Reaves in the lineup.
Reaves has been a liability on the ice for most of two seasons in Toronto, but in a series like this, having that nuclear missile in your back pocket to keep the Panthers honest may be quite valuable. In a playoff scenario, it is highly improbable that a Bennett or Tkachuk will drop the gloves, because that is a trade that Toronto will benefit from. Where Reaves can be valuable is laying the body on Florida players in response to something they do, and as a deterrent.
Most fans think the game has changed in the last 30-plus years, but some things still remain the same. The famous Marty McSorley hit on Doug Gilmour in 1993 happened because Wendel Clark was going at Wayne Gretzky and McSorley warned Toronto that if it didn’t stop, he would try to take out Gilmour. A year later, it was Clark that gave the warning to the Vancouver Canucks, as Gino Odjick was pestering Gilmour, and Clark warned them that if it continued, he would take out Pavel Bure.
Some have a disdain for that kind of frontier justice, but if the Leafs are to beat Florida, they are not only going to have to weather the withering attack of the Panthers, they will have to respond in kind.
Can’t dance around it. Go at it.