<p>Winning a playoff round is difficult and should be celebrated as such, but the Toronto Maple Leafs have larger goals ahead and will face their toughest opponent of the past decade.</p>
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<p>Toronto squares off against the defending champion Florida Panthers in round two, with Game 1 slated for Monday night. Florida is arguably the best defensive team of its generation, led by Selke finalists Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, Vezina-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and a nearly impenetrable system engineered by head coach Paul Maurice. It will be vitally important for the Leafs to keep their cool against a Panthers team that has excelled at agitating their opponents, en route to two consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final.</p>
<p>&#8220;Emotion plays a big part of the game,&#8221; Berube said following <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-practice-notes-berube-indicates-laughton-all-good-shot-block-rielly-tanev-optional">Saturday&#8217;s optional practice</a> via <a href="https://x.com/koshtorontosun/status/1918698266646003823">Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun</a>. &#8220;We all know that. Discipline and composure, we got through one round, and it has to be more elevated now.&#8221;</p>
<p>And it was an emotional first round, after all. Toronto dispatched Ottawa in six games, surrendering a 3-0 series lead, before fighting back to win <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/5-takeaways-toronto-maple-leafs-ottawa-senators-game-6-signature-nylander-pacioretty-justifies-role">Game 6</a>, with William Nylander and Auston Matthews <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/nylander-matthews-stamp-battle-of-ontario-toronto-maple-leafs-core-four-eliminate-senators">raising their level in a closeout match</a>. It&#8217;s all behind them now, after the team took a day off Friday. Florida previously eliminated Toronto in the second round during the 2023 playoffs.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know about satisfied,&#8221; Berube said. &#8220;We&#8217;re happy we won, you’re supposed to be happy you won. It&#8217;s not easy to win a series, and the guys should be happy they won the series, but now we&#8217;ve moved on and we have to get prepared for Florida.&#8221;</p>
<p>Widely considered to be one of the most compelling second-round series, the Leafs may be able to draw on some intelligence from previous years. Toronto signed Anthony Stolarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz this summer, all of whom coming off a Stanley Cup victory with Florida. Ekman-Larsson logged major minutes as a No. 5 defenceman, Lorentz chipped in on the fourth line, while Stolarz backed up Bobrovsky throughout the run and is presented with an opportunity to beat one of his prior mentors.</p>
<p>Toronto is now tasked with advancing to the conference final for the first time since 2002, and it will take its best effort, along with heightened discipline against a Florida team that is looking to win back-to-back titles, with a suppressive defensive style.</p>
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Winning a playoff round is difficult and should be celebrated as such, but the Toronto Maple Leafs have larger goals ahead and will face their toughest opponent of the past decade.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
Toronto squares off against the defending champion Florida Panthers in round two, with Game 1 slated for Monday night. Florida is arguably the best defensive team of its generation, led by Selke finalists Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, Vezina-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and a nearly impenetrable system engineered by head coach Paul Maurice. It will be vitally important for the Leafs to keep their cool against a Panthers team that has excelled at agitating their opponents, en route to two consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final.

"Emotion plays a big part of the game," Berube said following <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-practice-notes-berube-indicates-laughton-all-good-shot-block-rielly-tanev-optional">Saturday's optional practice</a> via <a href="https://x.com/koshtorontosun/status/1918698266646003823">Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun</a>. "We all know that. Discipline and composure, we got through one round, and it has to be more elevated now."

And it was an emotional first round, after all. Toronto dispatched Ottawa in six games, surrendering a 3-0 series lead, before fighting back to win <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/5-takeaways-toronto-maple-leafs-ottawa-senators-game-6-signature-nylander-pacioretty-justifies-role">Game 6</a>, with William Nylander and Auston Matthews <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/nylander-matthews-stamp-battle-of-ontario-toronto-maple-leafs-core-four-eliminate-senators">raising their level in a closeout match</a>. It's all behind them now, after the team took a day off Friday. Florida previously eliminated Toronto in the second round during the 2023 playoffs.

"I don't know about satisfied," Berube said. "We're happy we won, you’re supposed to be happy you won. It's not easy to win a series, and the guys should be happy they won the series, but now we've moved on and we have to get prepared for Florida."

Widely considered to be one of the most compelling second-round series, the Leafs may be able to draw on some intelligence from previous years. Toronto signed Anthony Stolarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz this summer, all of whom coming off a Stanley Cup victory with Florida. Ekman-Larsson logged major minutes as a No. 5 defenceman, Lorentz chipped in on the fourth line, while Stolarz backed up Bobrovsky throughout the run and is presented with an opportunity to beat one of his prior mentors.

Toronto is now tasked with advancing to the conference final for the first time since 2002, and it will take its best effort, along with heightened discipline against a Florida team that is looking to win back-to-back titles, with a suppressive defensive style.
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
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