<p>Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Max Domi took part in shooting and puck drills before the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> began their optional morning skate ahead of Monday&#8217;s game against the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/tale-of-the-tape-florida-panthers-toronto-maple-leafs-match-up">Florida Panthers</a>.</p>
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<p>Matthews, Marner and Domi worked on one end of the ice, practicing routine shooting drills and one-timers before the rest of the team joined for the session. Prior to the optional skate, Matthews and Marner left the ice.</p>
<p>Marner is a new father, as his son, Miles Daniel Marner, was born on Sunday. Toronto&#8217;s star winger reflected on a whirlwind 48 hours after the morning skate concluded.</p>
<p>&#8220;Really special moment. It&#8217;s an incredible moment, it&#8217;s hard to explain. As a parent, everyone feels it but it&#8217;s really cool,&#8221; Marner said.</p>
<p>&#8220;I just sat there and cheerleaded. My wife was an absolute beast through it all. She was so impressive to watch, what a woman&#8217;s body can do, how much strength they have. It was incredibly impressive to sit there and watch and be her cheerleader for the past two days.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Auston Matthews, Max Domi and Mitch Marner are on the ice early ahead of the  Leafs’ optional morning skate. <a href="https://t.co/X9YEC2KV7r">pic.twitter.com/X9YEC2KV7r</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Arun Srinivasan (@Arunthings) <a href="https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1919394765004562570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Anthony Stolarz is the projected starter for Monday&#8217;s Game 1. Stolarz started all six games for the Maple Leafs in their first-round victory over the Ottawa Senators, posting a .901 save percentage and 2.21 goals against average. The 31-year-old is squaring off against his former team, as he served as Sergei Bobrovsky&#8217;s backup last season. Stolarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz all won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last season, and they should pose a formidable test.</p>
<p>&#8220;Anytime you’re playing the Stanley Cup champions, you’re going to be the underdog,&#8221; Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. &#8220;They&#8217;ve proven they&#8217;re a great team over the last few years, and they are a really good team. They are a very good team. We&#8217;re a good team, too. Like I said, we&#8217;re approaching this business-like, we have to go out and do our job and play the way we can.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Our team was pretty consistent at home and on the road. You need to go on the road, you need to win games. We played extremely well at home too. You don’t need to change your game, home or road, you want to play the same game, I think that&#8217;s really important. We want to play our game that makes us successful, whether it&#8217;s at home or on the road.&#8221;</p>
<h3>Maple Leafs&#8217; projected lineup vs. Panthers</h3>
<p><em>Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner</em></p>
<p><em>Max Pacioretty-John Tavares-William Nylander</em></p>
<p><em>Bobby McMann-Pontus Holmberg-Max Domi</em></p>
<p><em>Steven Lorentz-Scott Laughton-Calle Jarnkrok</em></p>
<p><em>Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev</em></p>
<p><em>Morgan Rielly-Brandon Carlo</em></p>
<p><em>Simon Benoit-Oliver Ekman-Larsson</em></p>
<p><em>Anthony Stolarz (projected starter) </em></p>
<p><em>Joseph Woll </em></p>
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Leafs or Panthers? Dan Bylsma Chooses Toronto | Series Preview" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fQ64NhipF1A?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
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Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Max Domi took part in shooting and puck drills before the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> began their optional morning skate ahead of Monday's game against the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/tale-of-the-tape-florida-panthers-toronto-maple-leafs-match-up">Florida Panthers</a>.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
Matthews, Marner and Domi worked on one end of the ice, practicing routine shooting drills and one-timers before the rest of the team joined for the session. Prior to the optional skate, Matthews and Marner left the ice.

Marner is a new father, as his son, Miles Daniel Marner, was born on Sunday. Toronto's star winger reflected on a whirlwind 48 hours after the morning skate concluded.

"Really special moment. It's an incredible moment, it's hard to explain. As a parent, everyone feels it but it's really cool," Marner said.

"I just sat there and cheerleaded. My wife was an absolute beast through it all. She was so impressive to watch, what a woman's body can do, how much strength they have. It was incredibly impressive to sit there and watch and be her cheerleader for the past two days."

https://twitter.com/Arunthings/status/1919394765004562570

Anthony Stolarz is the projected starter for Monday's Game 1. Stolarz started all six games for the Maple Leafs in their first-round victory over the Ottawa Senators, posting a .901 save percentage and 2.21 goals against average. The 31-year-old is squaring off against his former team, as he served as Sergei Bobrovsky's backup last season. Stolarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz all won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last season, and they should pose a formidable test.

"Anytime you’re playing the Stanley Cup champions, you’re going to be the underdog," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. "They've proven they're a great team over the last few years, and they are a really good team. They are a very good team. We're a good team, too. Like I said, we're approaching this business-like, we have to go out and do our job and play the way we can."

"Our team was pretty consistent at home and on the road. You need to go on the road, you need to win games. We played extremely well at home too. You don’t need to change your game, home or road, you want to play the same game, I think that's really important. We want to play our game that makes us successful, whether it's at home or on the road."
<h3>Maple Leafs' projected lineup vs. Panthers</h3>
<em>Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner</em>

<em>Max Pacioretty-John Tavares-William Nylander</em>

<em>Bobby McMann-Pontus Holmberg-Max Domi</em>

<em>Steven Lorentz-Scott Laughton-Calle Jarnkrok</em>

<em>Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev</em>

<em>Morgan Rielly-Brandon Carlo</em>

<em>Simon Benoit-Oliver Ekman-Larsson</em>

<em>Anthony Stolarz (projected starter) </em>

<em>Joseph Woll </em>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ64NhipF1A
<h3>Sponsored by bet365</h3>
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Scenes from Leafs’ morning skate: Matthews, Marner, Domi get early work in, Stolarz projected to start

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