Game 1 Panthers at Maple Leafs: How to Watch, Lines, Odds

The Florida Panthers may be the defending Stanley Cup champions and have been seemingly picked by all the pundits to beat the Maple Leafs in their second-round playoff series, but Matthew Tkachuk says his team has that underdog mentality.

Toronto did win the Atlantic Division championship this season despite losing three of four to the Panthers during the regular season.

The best-of-7 series begins tonight in Toronto at 8 p.m.

“We’re on the road here to start, so they obviously had a better year than we did,’’ Tkachuk said after Monday’s morning skate. “We’re going to relish that role.’’

Tkachuk, who missed most of the past two days of practice in Fort Lauderdale, will be in the lineup tonight.

GAME 1: PANTHERS @ MAPLE LEAFS

• How to Watch: Tonight’s game is available on ESPN in the United States, and Sportsnet and CBC in Canada.
• Starting Goalies: The Panthers are going with Sergei Bobrovsky; The Maple Leafs will start Anthony Stolarz.
• NHL Betting Odds: The local book has Florida as a slight favorite (-130) on the money line. If you think the Panthers will win, a $130 bet pays $100.
• Subscribe to the FHN YouTube channel to hear from the Florida Panthers throughout the postseason.

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 1

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Best-of-7 Series

• When: Monday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
• National TV/Streaming: ESPN
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: Money Line (-130); Puck line (-1.5, +180); Over/Under 5.5 (-105/-115)
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Monday @Toronto, 8 (ESPN); Game 2: Wednesday @Toronto, 7 (ESPN); Game 3: Friday @Florida, 7 (TNT/truTV); Game 4: Sunday @Florida, 7:30 (TBS/truTV); Game 5*: Wednesday May 14 @Toronto TBA (ESPN); Game 6*: Friday May 16 @Florida TBA (TNT/truTV); Game 7*: Sunday May 18 @Toronto TBA (TNT/truTV).
• How They Got Here: Toronto d. Ottawa 4-2; Florida d. Tampa Bay 4-1
• This Season (Panthers Won 3-1) — At Florida: Panthers 5, Leafs 1 (Nov.27); Panthers 3, Leafs 1 (Ap. 8). At Toronto: Panthers 3, Maple Leafs 2 (March 14); Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2 (April 2).
• Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 51-40-7, 7 ties
• All-time Postseason: Panthers d. Toronto 4-1 (2023 ECS)

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (0-0) LINES

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart

17 Evan Rodrigues // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 63 Brad Marchand

10 A.J. Greer // 8 Nico Sturm // 70 Jesper Boqvist

42 Gus Forsling // 3 Seth Jones

77 Niko Mikkola // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

26 Uvis Balinskis // 88 Nate Schmidt

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

41 Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Mackie Samoskevich, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek, Jaycob Megna, Evan Cormier

Suspended: Aaron Ekblad 

PROJECTED TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (0-0) LINES

23 Matthew Knies // 34 Auston Matthews // 16 Mitch Marner

67 Max Pacioretty // 91 John Tavares // 92 William Nylander

74 Bobby McMann // 29 Pontus Holmberg // 11 Max Domi

19 Calle Jarnkrok // 24 Scott Laughton // 18 Steven Lorentz

44 Morgan Rielly // 25 Brandon Carlo

22 Jake McCabe // 8 Chris Tanev

2 Simon Benoit // 95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson

41 Anthony Stolarz

60 Joseph Woll

Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, David Kampf, Artur Akhtyamov, Nicholas Robertson

Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)

Toronto Maple Leafs Lines Courtesy NHL.com