Panthers vs. Maple Leafs Tuesday NHL playoffs Game 1 odds: Toronto now favored to end league's longest Stanley Cup drought

No city in North America is more passionate about a particular sports team than Toronto is with the Maple Leafs. They might still be partying north of the border after the Leafs eliminated the three-time Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday to advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Now the Leafs are +375 favorites at BetMGM to end the NHL's longest Stanley Cup drought – since 1967 – ahead of Tuesday's series-opener with the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the East semifinals.

Defending Cup champion Colorado had opened the 2022-23 season as the favorite to repeat, but Boston took over the favored role early on and never gave it up after setting NHL records for wins and points in the regular season. Yet the Presidents' Trophy curse persists, as the Bruins were upset in seven games in Round 1 by Florida.

The last Presidents' Trophy winner to capture the Cup remains the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2012-13 campaign. Boston had taken a whopping 67.1% of the handle and 49.4% of the tickets at BetMGM to win the Eastern Conference. With Colorado also being upset in Round 1 by Seattle out West, Toronto is now favored to win the East and the Cup.

"Entering the playoffs, the Bruins were the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup and a significant liability for BetMGM. Boston losing in the first round was a good outcome for the sportsbook," said Seamus Magee, Sports Trader at BetMGM.

The Panthers had 43 fewer points than the Bruins, marking the second-largest negative regular-season point differential in a series win in Stanley Cup playoffs history. It wasn't the first time that Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who reclaimed the starting job during the Boston series from Alex Lyon, helped a team pull off an improbable upset. In 2019, he and the Blue Jackets swept the Lightning, who won a then record-tying 62 games, in the Eastern Conference first round. It's actually possible Lyon starts Tuesday, as he was the first goaltender off the ice at this morning's skate, which usually indicates the starter.

This will mark the 290th unique postseason series matchup in league history, as the Leafs and Panthers have previously never squared off in the playoffs. Three of the four regular-season meetings went to overtime and Toronto won three of the four. Current Panthers head coach Paul Maurice spent two seasons with the Maple Leafs from 2006-07 to 2007-08.

Toronto is -170 on the series line and Florida is +150. 

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