The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers meet for Game 2 on Wednesday night.
The pregame narrative: All eyes will be on Sam Bennett as the Panthers look to level the series. The forward had a contentious collision with Anthony Stolarz, causing Toronto’s netminder to leave the game and exit the arena on a stretcher.
Check out my Panthers vs. Maple Leafs best bets for Game 2 of the second round, featuring Bennett and Auston Matthews.
Game 2 Boost: Maple Leafs to win & over 2.5 team total, Tavares to score. Bet now!
Panthers vs. Maple Leafs best bets
Best Bet: Bennett to record a point (-118)
Bennett is the ultimate agitator and has mastered the “accidentally-on-purpose” brand of hockey.
His incident with Stolarz marked the third consecutive postseason where Bennett took an opposing player out of the series without facing supplemental discipline:
Whether or not he intended to injure Stolarz or simply get in his kitchen is up for debate, and I’ll leave it at that.
What I do know is that Bennett isn’t just on the Panthers to create havoc.
The forward can hurt the opposition on the score sheet and has been Florida’s most productive player this postseason (team ranks in parentheses):
- 6 points (1st)
- 24 shots (1st)
- 37 chances (1st)
- 2.78 xG (1st)
- 8 high-danger chances (2nd)
Bennett scored a goal and had seven shots in Game 1. He has every opportunity to stay hot playing on the top power play and riding with Matthew Tkachuk on the second line.
Key stat: Bennett is 14-6 against this line in his last 20 playoff games (5-1 this postseason).
Game 2 picks
Maple Leafs over 2.5 goals (-127): Toronto’s offence exploded in the series opener, netting three goals in the first period en route to a 5-4 win.
Do I expect that to happen again? No. But this total should still be well within reach.
The Maple Leafs are 6-1 against this line during the postseason. Two of those games were won 3-2 in overtime against the Ottawa Senators, but a win’s a win.
Toronto’s “Core Four” is finally showing up in the postseason, and Sergei Bobrovsky hasn’t been great after stonewalling the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first two games of the postseason.
In four games since, he has allowed 14 goals on 86 shots (.837 SV%, 1-3 vs. this line).
I’m also expecting a tight whistle after Monday’s extracurriculars, meaning both teams should see plenty of power-play looks.
Matthews over 3.5 shots (-114): Matthews isn’t scoring like he used to, and you could chalk that up to lingering injury, bad luck, or just poor play.
Toronto’s captain posted a career-low 33 goals with a 12.6% shooting percentage this season. He has two goals (one on a practically empty net) with a 7.7 SH% in the playoffs.
But he’s still generating a boatload of chances, which is what I’m keying in on.
Matthews had five shots in the series opener. He’s had at least three shots in six of seven playoff games so far and is 3-4 vs. this line.
He’s leading the team with 54 chances (i.e., shot attempts) in the playoffs, 15 more than second-place William Nylander.
Panthers vs. Maple Leafs best bets made at 10:05 a.m. ET 05/07/2025.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.