2025 NHL playoffs: Previews for Panthers-Leafs, Oilers-Knights - ESPN

Following just one game on the schedule on Tuesday night, Wednesday night is back to the standard of two games — one of which could be the swan song for a recent Stanley Cup champion.

The first matchup pits the Florida Panthers against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET, ESPN); those teams are tied 2-2. In the nightcap, the Vegas Golden Knights host the Edmonton Oilers (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with the home team hoping to avoid a 4-1 series loss just two seasons after winning it all.

Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, a recap of what went down in Tuesday's game and the Three Stars of Tuesday from Arda Öcal.

Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 5 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN

With the series tied 2-2, ESPN BET has the Panthers as the favorites to win the series at -210 compared to +170 for the Leafs. Florida is now +400 to win the Cup, while Toronto is +900.

When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the series 79% of the time in Stanley Cup playoffs history.

Each goal that Carter Verhaeghe scores extends his lead atop the franchise leaderboard for career playoff goals; he's currently at 30, ahead of Sam Reinhart (24), Aleksander Barkov (22) and Matthew Tkachuk (20).

Acquired at the trade deadline from Boston, Brad Marchand has a personal 4-0 record against Toronto in playoff series, and is tied for the third-most points against the Leafs in Stanley Cup playoff history; his 33 are tied with Henri Richard, trailing Alex Delvecchio (35) and Gordie Howe (53).

William Nylander leads Toronto in goals this postseason, with six, and he continues to climb the Leafs' career playoff goal-scoring leaderboard. With 26, he is tied with Steve Thomas and George