On Sunday, the Florida Panthers completed one of the great upsets in NHL playoff history, knocking off the Boston Bruins in Game 7 at TD Garden. On Tuesday, the Panthers will look to get off to a strong start against the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road as well. Below is my NHL betting pick for Panthers vs Maple Leafs Game 1 from North of the border.

Panthers vs Maple Leafs Game 1 Betting Pick

This game will be played at Scotiabank Arena at 7:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.

Why Bet the Maple Leafs:

Toronto went 3-1 against the Panthers this season, and should assert their dominance over the Panthers again here.

The Leafs get an extra day of rest ahead of this game, as they finished their first round series a day before the Panthers did.

Toronto will have a home crowd in their corner that is desperate to see this team succeed, and their home ice advantage will be a real difference maker throughout this best of seven series.

Florida Panthers

Going into Panthers vs Maple Leafs Game 1, the Florida Panthers have earned a ton of respect for upsetting the best regular season team of all-time in the Boston Bruins. Despite trailing 3-2 late in Game 7 of their series with Boston, the Panthers scored to tie things up and then won in overtime to advance to the second round. Now, the question is whether or not the Panthers can keep their run alive and set the tone with a Game 1 win here.

Florida is clearly pulling out all the stops to try and win this series, including blocking Leafs fans from purchasing tickets to Florida’s home games in this series. But if anything, a move like that suggests that the Leafs have a much bigger and better fan base than that of the Panthers. That could be a huge difference maker in this series opening game in Toronto.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs did not need seven games to beat their first round playoff opponent. They took down the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games, winning the final game of the series 2-1 in overtime. Thanks to that win, the Leafs got an extra day of rest over the Panthers going into this series opener, with the Leafs enjoying home ice advantage as well.

For the Leafs, the recipe for success is simple, as they need to keep putting Auston Matthews and John Tavares in positions to make plays. That duo both notched a goal against the Lightning in Game 6, with Tavares’ goal in overtime setting up this second round matchup. They will both need to make an impact here to help the Leafs hold serve at home.

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