A Toronto Maple Leafs bandwagoner's guide for a pivotal Game 5 showdown with Florida

The Toronto Maple Leafs take the ice for the biggest game of their season Wednesday night, with a chance to push the Florida Panthers to the brink of elimination in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

For fans, the stress is seriously mounting.

As a quick recap, this is now a best-of-three series. The Leafs won the first two games at Scotiabank Arena, while the Panthers prevailed in Florida (maybe because fewer Leaf fans made the trip south.)

To get you ready for Game 5 (which starts at 7 p.m. ET) we're checking back in with our resident Leaf fan, Adam Carter, who has spent the series oscillating between exhilaration and hurling expletives at his TV. 

Adam, what's your stress level on a scale of 0-10?

I'd put it at a 6.7 currently (sorry Leaf fans, I had to). 

Though Game 4 was rough, Toronto remains in a good spot here. If the team manages to win Wednesday's game at home it puts Florida on the brink of elimination, and that's something many people (myself included) didn't see happening in this series.

But if the team turns in another dreadful performance like Sunday night — and especially if Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner fail to elevate their games yet again in a key playoff matchup — then the Leafs run the risk of landing where they always seem to end up: on the outside looking in.

Maple Leafs and Panthers fans are confident ‘this is the year,’ but they can’t both be right

Yeah, but what do the sportscasters always say? A team isn't in trouble until they lose on home ice. So we're good, right? Right?

Home ice advantage has been a big deal throughout these playoffs, and this series has been no exception. But it's not just a rowdy home-crowd boost — having last change has made a massive strategic difference for each coach.