Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Nicholas Paul, center, falls into Maple Leafs goalie Jack Campbell, right, as Toronto’s Colin Blackwell defends in the third period of Game 7 in their NHL first-round playoff series in Toronto on Saturday. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers deadline addition Brandon Montour may not have had a rooting interest in Game 7 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

Many of his teammates who got eliminated by the Lightning were happy to see the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions win to become their next opponent.

“I think a lot of guys wanted to play this team,” Montour said Sunday. “It’s always a battle against these guys, and we’re up for the challenge and everyone’s excited in there.”

Lightning-Panthers is one of two second-round series that are rematches from last year. In the Western Conference, the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche face off against the St. Louis Blues they swept out of the playoffs in the first round in 2021.

Motivation isn’t a problem for Carolina and Edmonton after also moving on to the second round.

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LIGHTNING-PANTHERS

Just like last time, Florida has home-ice advantage. It didn’t matter much because Tampa Bay won the first two games in Sunrise on the way to knocking out the Panthers in six.

The Sunshine State rivals split their four meetings during the regular season.

“People especially in Florida have been begging for the two teams to be contenders and go at it,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said in Toronto after Game 7 against the Maple Leafs. “They’ve retooled their team and brought some big names in there and it should be a ton of fun. They’re fun to play against, they’re competitive as hell and I think it’s really good for hockey.”

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BLUES-AVALANCHE

This was the first matchup of the second round to get locked in after Colorado swept Nashville and St. Louis beat Minnesota in six. It also could be the feistiest, especially in the aftermath of Avalanche center Nazem Kadri concussing Blues defenseman Justin Faulk with an illegal check to the head in the series last year that prompted an eight-game suspension.

Kadri is having a career season, the Blues have already dealt with a series of injuries on their blue line and no one has forgotten that hit.

“You want to win any series,” said defenseman Nick Leddy, who is one of a few St. Louis newcomers along with forward Brandon Saad, Pavel Buchnevich and Alexei Toropchenko. “At the end of the day, playoffs are the best part of the year and we get another great crack at it.”

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RANGERS or PENGUINS-HURRICANES

Carolina and New York last met in the best-of-five opening round of the 24-team expanded bubble playoffs in 2020. The fifth-seeded Hurricanes swept the 12th-seeded Rangers.

The Penguins and Hurricanes last met in the playoffs in 2009 — a Pittsburgh sweep in the Eastern Conference final on the way to winning the Cup. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are still around from that series, while then-Hurricanes captain Rod Brind’Amour is now their coach and then-20-year-old Penguins center Jordan Staal is Carolina’s captain.

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STARS or FLAMES-OILERS

Connor McDavid carried Edmonton past Los Angeles with 14 points in the hard-fought seven-game series. The previous time the Oilers and Flames met in the playoffs was almost six years before he was born.

Edmonton and Dallas last played in the playoffs in 2003, a series won in six by the Stars.

“The job’s far from over,” Oilers defenseman Codi Ceci told reporters Saturday night.