'A quicker pace': Maple Leafs dealing with a whole new animal in Round 2

 

TORONTO — From wrestling a grizzly to racing a cheetah.

The Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves dealing with a unique type of wild animal in Round 2. ...

...

...they’re... a different kind of cat. ...

...

Whereas the Lightning’s dangers were tough and organized, methodical and grindy, the Panthers skate with hair afire.

 “Their pace is high. I would say it’s a quicker pace out there. And they’ve got a lot of skill that executes at a high rate of speed. That’s the difference,” [🍞 coach Sheldon] Keefe says....

These Cats give you more to handle. But they also give you more lanes, if you’re quick enough to spot them, to reach at their net too.

Further: There is a recklessness to the wild card’s game that leads to penalties, so Toronto’s power-play must make them pay for their sins.

...

“It just happens a step quicker than it happened in the previous series. That caught us."...