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Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk took a jab at the Toronto Maple Leafs following their Game 7 loss in the first round to the Boston Bruins on May 4.
Toronto was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, as the Maple Leafs rallied from being down 3-1 in the series to force Game 7. In the final game, Toronto got out to a 1-0 lead in the third period, but less than two minutes later, Boston tied the game.
The Bruins ended up scoring in overtime to advance to the second round to play the Florida Panthers. Although Florida didn’t have much time to prepare for who they would play in the second round, Tkachuk says he and the team knew the Maple Leafs would lose.
“I was just happy it went to Game 7, to be honest, have them play another game. At that point, it was late, I just wanted to go to bed, but I wanted to see who won. But, I think, without this coming out too badly, I think we all knew it was probably going to be Boston the way that series was going. I’m sure a lot of expected at the beginning of the series, but in playoffs, you never know. I think throughout the whole series we were probably expecting they were going to come out and win it one way or another,” Tkachuk told the media on May 5.
It was a subtle jab from Tkachuk given that the Maple Leafs have been known to disappoint in the playoffs, which happened once again.
Tkachuk Expecting a ‘Great Series’ Against Boston
With the Bruins defeating the Maple Leafs in Game 7, Boston will now play Florida in the second round of the playoffs.
Florida stunned Boston in Game 7 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, so there is history going into this series. With that, Tkachuk is expecting a great series for the fans.
“I’m expecting a very good series,” Tkachuk said, via NHL.com. “They’re such an unbelievable team in every aspect of the game. They touch everything. They’re really good at special teams. Their 5-on-5 is great. Their goaltending is amazing. Their team defense is really good. They’ve got some star players. I think it’s a lot like our team, so it should be a great series.”
After being upset last year in the playoffs, Boston won all four games against Florida in the regular season, with two coming in overtime.
“We know that this is a very similar team to last year,” Tkachuk said. “A couple different pieces, but I think last year there was a lot of high-scoring games. We’re probably expecting it be a little bit on the lower-scoring side just by judging how both teams like to play and like to have success. So, it’s a great challenge here.”
Panthers-Bruins Playoff Schedule
Florida will now play Boston in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with the schedule as follows:
- Game 1: Monday, May 6 – Boston at Florida — 8:00 p.m. Eastern time
- Game 2: Wednesday, May 8 – Boston at Florida — 7:30 p.m. Eastern time
- Game 3: Friday, May 10 – Florida at Boston — 7 p.m. Eastern time
- Game 4: Sunday, May 12 – Florida at Boston — TBD
- Game 5 (if necessary): Tuesday, May 14 – Boston at Florida — TBD
- Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, May 17 – Florida at Boston — TBD
- Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, May 19 – Boston at Florida — TBD