For the second time in three years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

You read that right. Toronto was able to pull through and not allow Ottawa to force a game 7. It was a total shift from game 5, the effort stayed strong throughout the whole game and it gave Toronto the opportunity to eliminate their Ontario rival.

William Nylander had two goals (one being an empty net goal) and two assists, and Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves en route to the complete win for the Maple Leafs. Toronto will face the Florida Panthers in a second round rematch from 2023.

Early on both teams had energy and were making plays. Both Toronto and Ottawa were being physical and battling for pucks, making a push to have the icebreaker in this contest. Toronto killed an Ottawa power play in the middle of the period, and found themselves on their own power play late in the period.

Auston Matthews scored from a soft wrist shot above the left circle. The puck never left the ice, but due to a beautiful screen by Matthew Knies, Ullmark didn’t see the puck squeak by his right pad and into the back of the net. Matthews’ goal was the Maple Leafs’ first goal in 31 attempts on the man-advantage in a potential series-winning game.

Quickly into the second, the Leafs put up another goal. This one coming from William Nylander. He jumped on a Nick Jensen turnover in the neutral zone, and shot right at the right circle underneath Ullmark’s right arm to pad Toronto’s lead 2-0.

Nylander’s goal didn’t go without an Ottawa response, as Senators captain Brady Tkachuk tipped in a point shot from Thomas Chabot to cut the Toronto leaf in half.

As the third period started to dwindle down, Ottawa was able to tie the game right after their power play expired. As Morgan Rielly returned to the ice, David Perron skated down the left side of the ice and underneath the goal line, and banked it off of Stolarz’ helmet and into the back of the net as the entire Canadian Tire Centre erupted.

Not long after, #67 saved the Maple Leafs and gave hope to all of Leafs Nation. Max Pacioretty sneaked into the left slot and beat Linus Ullmark with a wrist shot to the glove side. With the Ottawa net eventually empty, William Nylander scored his second of the contest to cement the Maple Leafs victory 4-2.

This series win really proved something about the Leafs. With this team, this coaching staff, they really can accomplish a lot. They have come back from deficits before, and they’ve held on to leads when it has mattered. This series showed that no matter the adversity that surrounds them, they can play quality hockey and get the job done.

Toronto is the no. 1 seed in the Atlantic division, so they’ll have home ice advantage against the Panthers. No matter the advantage, Toronto will be in for a tough time against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

“They’re obviously the Stanley Cup Champs, so they’re a very good team,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “They’ve got a lot of good pieces, they’re hard to play against. You know, I could keep going on and on, but it’s not the time right now.”

For Toronto, William Nylander led the Maple Leafs in the first round with nine points (3G, 6A). Mitch Marner had eight points (1G, 7A), Auston Matthews had seven points (2G, 5A), and John Tavares and Matthew Knies each scored three goals.

“It’s going to be another hard series,” Matthews said. “I mean, they’re obviously the defending champs, back-to-back Cup Finals. It’s going to be hard. We have to reset, do our homework and rest up, do what we can and go in there with confidence and go in there with some pushback.”

The Panthers went 3-1-0 against the Maple Leafs in the regular season, outscoring them 13-7. Toronto is going to need everyone to step up. They’ll need a strong series from Matthews and Marner, and they’ll need Nylander, Tavares, and Knies to continue their elite level of play if they want to reach the conference finals. No matter what that outcome is, Leafs fans can rest easy knowing that they won’t have to deal with another embarrassing first round loss.