pc28¹ÙÍø

Hold that thought.

ThatÌýwas a lights-out opening 20 minutes by Nylander and his mates. Three goalsÌý— bang-bang-bangÌý— for the gang. And a gravitational pull almost entirely in Toronto’s favour until the chaotic closing minutes as the Leafs extinguished the Florida Panthers 5-4 in Game 1 of their Atlantic Division second-round playoff series.

Memory lane factoid: When last these teams met in the post-season, two springs ago, Leafs never scored more than two goals in any of the five games the Panthers required to punt them out of the 2023 playdowns. They lost Games 1, 2 and 5 in Toronto, home ice of no advantage against eighth-seeded Florida. But those were the nascent Panthers, telegraphing the outfit they were becomingÌý— all the way to the final that season and a year later triumphing as Stanley Cup champions.

In a wildly roustabout first period, circa 2025, the Leafs gave not a hint of being awed or cowed by their bejeweled opponents, a group built up, with reason. as hockey lords of the highest order.

The Panthers didn’t have a shot on goal until almost five minutes had passed, by which time Nylander had beaten Sergei Bobrovsky with a deadeye wrister from 27 feet. The Swedish berry, so mellowly and wryly on his own planet much of the time, was tearing down the right wing after Auston Matthews had won the neutral zone faceoff, with Max Pacioretty on the puck like a dog on a bone against Gustav Forsling behind the Florida cage. It was Pacioretty who won that battle, ringing the puck around the boards and Nylander pouncing on the rush.

At 33 seconds. On Toronto’s first shot. Plucked Bobrovsky five-hole. Hard to tell who was more stunned, Bobrovsky or the Panthers or the agog crowd.

The tempo of this encounter was established.

There was a shot by Sam Reinhart at the other end, off a two-on-two, that knocked off Stolarz’s mask. He blinked that bushwhack away, rubbing his face. But more on Stolarz’s brainpan in a bit.

Bada-bing bada-bang for Nylander, 12 minutes later, again the beneficiary of hard-nosed spade work by Pacioretty on the boards, chip of the puck back to Oliver Ekman-Larsson, whose shot provide a big rebound out into the slot. And there was Willy StylesÌý— forehand, backhand, forehand from eight feet, looking at the whites of Bobrovsky’s eyes.

“We came out, we got a couple of good scoring chances that we capitalized on,’’ Nylander coolly offered. “It was nice for us.’’

Nice? Nice?

A perspective from Morgan Rielly instead, about Nylander. “Outstanding. Obviously he came out and was feeling it. Set the tone.’’

The Leafs were obviously in a shoot-first, big-shouldered state of mind, not backing down or ducking any Panther. Which is not how Florida best remembers them. But the Panthers halved the lead on the power play, arising from a cheesy bench minorÌý—Ìýtoo many men on the iceÌý— with the Leafs in the midst of a line change coming off their own power play. Seth Jones got Florida on the board with a knuckleball from inside the blue line that somehow found its way through traffic.

Rielly, however, restored a two-goal lead before the period ran out with his third goal of the playoffs, on a two-on-one with John Tavares. Everybody, including Niko Mikkola, the only defenceman back, expected Rielly to pass. He did not. His wrister evaded Bobrovsky’s blocker. Nylander got the assist for his third point.

“I just felt like I had space, that’s all,’’ Rielly said.

Did we mention the cross-checking penalty to Max Domi in that frame? It could just as easily have been a cross-check violation for that bothersome buzzing drone Brad Marchand. Of course, the former Bruin has built a career out of badgering opponents into dumb penalties.

The Leafs’ rearguard continued to flash scoring savvy in the post-season, with Chris Tanev making it 4-1 in the second on a knuckler that arrived out of breath but handcuffed Bobrovsky anyway. He had just shot it toward the stick of Matthew Knies. “It bounced numerous times and somehow went in the net,’’ grinned Tanev.

Fortified with a trio of ex-PanthersÌý— forward Steven Lorentz, defenceman Ekman-Larsson, but most of all the ascending Stolarz, mentored by Bobrovsky last seasonÌý— the Leafs didn’t evince a wisp of wuss confronted by that grinding, heavy Panthers style. They handled their aggressive forecheck well for most of two-and-a-half periods.

What couldn’t have been foreseen was the tomahawk elbow that Sam Bennett threw at Stolarz’s head with about 10 minutes left in the second, no penalty called. Stolarz looked dazed when he removed his mask that time. He soldiered on but made his way to the bench minutes later, where he threw up.

That brought in Joseph Woll, who hadn’t seen a flicker of playoff action this year. He surrendered a pair of goals early in the third, one off the rush and one on defensive zone pressure, as the Panthers overtook the Leafs on the shot clock.

“You go from just chilling to being in the front line of action,’’ Woll told reporters. “I tried my best to stay prepared and be ready for moments like that. I just tried to get the feel back.’’

The Leafs couldn’t convert on two power plays down the stretch to give them some breathing room. But Matthew Knies broke away with a head of steam on Bobrovsky and busted him glove side, with an assist from birthday boy and birth dad Mitch Marner, whose son Miles was born on the weekend.Ìý

It had looked like the dark side of the moon looming for Toronto, especially when, with their net emptied for an extra attacker, Bennett tucked a puck behind Woll with 1:55 left in regulation.

It was an agonizingly long one minute and fifty-five seconds. But the Leafs survived.