With the first game of round two ready to be played, the Toronto Maple Leafs would find themselves matching up against the Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers
After beating Ottawa in six, the Leafs would have a bigger task of taking down the Cats, who surprisingly dealt with the Tampa Bay Lightning in an easy five games.
With both teams looking to set off the series on the right foot, Fans at Scotiabank Arena would be in for a good one.
In the first period of play, it would only take 33 seconds for William Nylander to find the back of the net beating Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, giving the Leafs an early 1-0 lead.
Nylander would not stop there as 12 minutes later, he would add a second with a filthy move to get the puck over top of Bobrovsky, extending the lead to two.
Florida would fight back with a power play where Seth Jones would fire one from the point that would beat Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz and the Cats would cut the lead to one.
Just when Florida had gained some momentum back to their side, Morgan Rielly would find himself on a two-on-one with John Tavares, Reilly would decide to take the shot which would be the right option as he would give the Buds a two-goal lead back.
With a high-pressure first period, Toronto would find themselves heading into the intermission with a 3-1 lead.
In the Middle frame, the action would stay at a high, but Leafs fans would be not only worried about the game but also their starting netminder.
Sam Bennett would drive to the net where his glove would make contact with Stolarz’s head which he was then seen throwing up at the Leafs’ bench and taken out of the game due to concussion protocols.
Toronto backup Joseph Woll would come in and need to hold down the fort for the remainder of the game.
With Woll making back-to-back saves, The Leafs would reward him by extending the lead as Chris Tanev would join the scoring making it 4-1.
The scoring would end there as the teams would head into the locker rooms.
In the final period of play, Florida would not go away as they would score two quick goals on Woll making it a tighter 4-3 game.
With many Blue-and-White fans sweating, a man who has scored big goals would come up clutch as Matthew Knies would find himself on a breakaway where he would be able to finish on the backhand giving the Leafs another two-goal lead.
With still over two minutes to play, this game would not be over and with the outcome of the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues game 7, the Leafs would not be safe yet.
With the Panthers’ net empty, Bennett would find a late goal making it 5-4 but that would not be enough as the Leafs would close it out taking a 1-0 series lead.
Nylander, who finished the night with three points and is tied for the League lead, had a chance to talk about how his team was able to pull out a game 1 victory.
“It was a little up and down throughout the game, but we battled and were able to get the dub,” Nylander said.
Although the Leafs will take a series lead into game 2, the questions will all be around their starting netminder.
“Elbow to the head, clear as day,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said when discussing the Bennett hit on Stolarz in the postgame. 
The battle will continue on Wednesday in Toronto where the Leafs will expect the face a hungrier Panthers team that will see their top defenseman Aaron Ekblad return to the lineup as his two-game suspension is over.
