Maple Leafs vs. Panthers Game Day Preview: Round 2 Game 6 – The Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs

Well, Leafs Nation, this is it. The Toronto Maple Leafs have their backs against the wall and need a win tonight or their season is over. After what happened in Game 5, they’ve got to take a hard look at what went wrong and figure out how to fix it—fast. If not, this could end up being an even more disappointing playoff exit than the one against Montreal back in 2021.

Many called Game 5 a legacy game, but to me, Game 6 is the one that will truly define this era of Maple Leafs hockey. If they lose tonight, this core will go down as the group that just couldn’t get it done. But if they win—and then somehow take down the Florida Panthers in Game 7 to reach the Conference Finals—it could finally give fans hope that maybe this group could have won with the right coach and structure in place.

That said, the odds don’t feel like they’re trending that way. Scoring has been a struggle since Game 3, and Sergei Bobrovsky seems to have them rattled. You’ll likely know how this one’s going to play out within the first five to ten minutes. If they come out nervous, buckle up—it could unravel quickly. But if they come out strong, control the play, and manage to score early, then maybe—just maybe—they give themselves a real shot to push this to a Game 7.

Team Stats

Toronto Maple Leafs
Playoff Record: 6-5
Series Record: 2-3

Top 5 Scorers:

1. William Nylander: 6 G, 9 A, 15 P
2. Mitch Marner: 2 G, 10 A, 12 P
3. Auston Matthews: 2 G, 8 A, 10 P
4. John Tavares: 5 G, 2 A, 7 G
5. Morgan Rielly: 4 G, 3 A, 7 P

Goalie Stats:

1. Anthony Stolarz: 4-2, 2.19 GAA, .901 SV%
2. Joseph Woll: 2-3, 4.02 GAA, .877 SV%
3. Matt Murray: 0-0, 4.41 GAA, .857 SV%

Florida Panthers
Playoff Record: 7-3
Series Record: 3-2

Top 5 Scorers:

1. Sam Reinhart: 3 G, 7 A, 10 P
2. Sam Bennett: 6 G, 3 A, 9 P
3. Matthew Tkachuk: 3 G, 6 A, 9 P
4. Anton Lundell: 3 G, 6 A, 9 P
5. Brad Marchand: 2 G, 7 A, 9 P

Goalie Stats:

1. Sergei Bobrovsky: 7-3, 2.46 GAA, .899 SV%

Projected Lineups

There are just projections, these lineups are subject to change before the drop of the puck.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Matthew Knies — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg — John Tavares — William Nylander
Bobby McMann — Max Domi — Max Pacioretty
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laughton — Calle Jarnkrok

Morgan Rielly — Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe — Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit — Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Joseph Woll
Matt Murray

Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, Nicholas Robertson, Dennis Hildeby, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Artur Akhtyamov

Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Anthony Stolarz (undisclosed)

Florida Panthers:

Jesper Boqvist — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer — Tomas Nosek — Jonah Gadjovich

Gustav Forsling — Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola — Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt — Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Jaycob Megna, Uvis Balinskis, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm

Injured: Evan Rodrigues (undisclosed)

Related: 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2 Hub

Puck drop is set for 8:00 tonight, after the terrible showing from Game 5, the Maple Leafs need to steal a win to keep their season alive. If they don’t, this could very well be the last time Marner and Matthews play together on the same team.