TORONTO -- Matthew Tkachuk knew the Florida Panthers could be a great story. Even if no one else did.

The Panthers squeaked into the NHL postseason by a single point and then downed the No. 1 seed (and Presidents' Trophy-winning) Boston Bruins in a wild Eastern Conference first-round series. Florida's reward for their efforts is a meeting with Toronto in the second-round, making it back-to-back behemoths for Tkachuk and the Panthers. Game 1 against the Leafs looms on Tuesday.

"I guess the prize for knocking off the best team in the league is getting the second-best team in the league now," Tkachuk said. "Boston did what they did [in the regular season], but Toronto is the one team that was right behind them. So it's going to be a very similar challenge. The one thing that brought us together last series was the fact that we knew we were the crazy underdogs, and that doesn't change this series."

Tkachuk has fully embraced where the Panthers are compared to the Maple Leafs. While Toronto was a top-five team in the NHL standings most of the season with an eventual 111-point campaign -- which was still far off Boston's history-making 135-point year -- Florida fought its way back from a bad start to the season into playoff contention partially on the back of Tkachuk's career-best 109-point performance.

The Panthers pushed to stay alive against Boston, too. Florida fell behind in that series 3-1 before battling back with three straight victories (including two in overtime) to end the Bruins' postseason and emerge as a playoff Cinderella story.

"Not many people thought we'd be in this position," Tkachuk said. "There's not a lot of people out there that think we're going to be able to pull this one off [against Toronto] either, just like they didn't think we'd be able to pull Boston off. So, one game at a time, one day at a time."

Tkachuk has been Florida's spark plug not only in making the postseason but achieving a first-round victory. He paces the Panthers in these playoffs with five goals and 11 points, and he scored the overtime winner in Game 5 that kept Florida's hopes alive for a series comeback.

Since then, it's become increasingly clear to Tkachuk how valuable shortsightedness can be.

"What's made us very successful is we're kind of oblivious to the situation that we're in," he said. "That's a great thing for us, just staying right in the moment and not letting the outside noise [in]. It's just allowed us to focus one day at a time and really allows us to enjoy it. We didn't want our season to end. We didn't want it to be our last day together, our last game together. So, there was a lot of motivation for us and a lot of doubters except for us."

It's also obvious Tkachuk is more than the one-dimensional agitator he's been portrayed as in the past. True, Tkachuk can get under anyone's skin with ease, but he's channeled that energy into being a pest around the net, and that's where the forward's greatest impact continues to come for Florida.

"There's a maturity in this young man's game," said Panthers coach Paul Maurice. "He's a performer, and he's a producer. He's also got an edge to him. He's not afraid to go to those [net-front] places. What is it about? I don't know the answer to that, but if there was any kind of thing, you'd just have 20 of them. You'd just say, 'Hey, do this.' He is an elite performer. His hands are off the charts."

Florida will need every ounce of Tkachuk's contributions to advance past Toronto. The Leafs downed Tampa Bay in Game 6 of their first-round series to earn the franchise's first second-round opportunity since 2004. Playoff success was a long time coming for the Leafs. It'll be on Tkachuk and the Panthers now to make it short-lived.

"[Toronto is] very similar to Boston in the way they play, but I'd say maybe a little bit faster up front, a little bit quicker, they're good on their sticks," Tkachuk said. "They're not going to be finishing as many checks, but their top end is as good as it gets around the NHL. So, it's going to take a full team effort. I think the longer the series goes for us, the better. Have to play those guys hard and maybe by the end start to wear them down a little bit."