Florida Panthers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Game 2 Prediction, NHL Odds
For the second straight playoff series, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost their opener at home to a team from Florida. In Tuesday’s case, it was the Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Toronto is a -204 favourite on the NHL odds at Scotiabank Arena for Thursday’s Game 2.
Panthers vs. Maple Leafs NHL Betting Odds
With Florida taking Game 1 by a score of 4-2 for a 1-0 lead, it is now -109 on the series line (was +160) with Toronto -103 (was -222). On the series handicap, Florida at +1.5 games is -303 and Toronto -1.5 is +263. The over-under for total games is 5.5, with the over a -238 favourite. The favoured exact result is Maple Leafs in seven at +377 and we still lean there.
Toronto bounced back from a 7-3 home loss to Tampa Bay in Round 1 with a 7-2 Game 2 win on the way to taking the series in seven. Florida lost Game 1 in Boston in the last round but won Game 2 6-3 on the way to taking the series in seven.
On the updated odds to win the East, the Leafs are +273 and Panthers +284. The road team is 4-0 in the past four meetings. The over is 5-2-1 in the past eight in Toronto.
Florida Panthers
There’s no sugarcoating that the Panthers were the better team in the 4-2 victory in Game 1 as they never trailed, outhit the Leafs 47-36 and killed off all four Toronto power play chances. Nick Cousins (first of playoffs), Sam Bennett (fourth), Carter Verhaeghe (third) and Brandon Montour (six) had the goals in Game 1 with Verhaeghe’s the winner at 17:47 of the second. Matthew Tkachuk had three assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves. The four goals scored were more than Florida had in the entire 2022 second round when it was swept by the Lightning. Montour leads all defensemen with six goals this postseason and has matched the franchise record for most points in a playoff year by a Florida blueliner with nine, a mark set by Ed Jovanovski in 1996. Verhaeghe’s six game-winning goals since the start of the 2022 playoffs are the most in the NHL. The Panthers are 8-2 in their past 10 following a win.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto did outshoot Florida 36-28 in Game 1, had 17 takeaways to just three for the Panthers and only two penalty minutes, killing off the lone Florida power play. The Leafs also rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to tie it. So there were some positives. Toronto’s star quartet of Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares combined for one point. Rookie Matthew Knies (first of playoffs and career) and Michael Bunting (first) had the goals.
“They did to us what they did to Boston,” said coach Sheldon Keefe. “There’s some real high-end skill throughout their lineup that can make a lot of plays at a high pace. When you make a mistake, the recovery time is not really there, because they’re making the play and they attack the net with a lot of urgency.”
Toronto is 5-2 in its past seven Thursday games.
