Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers had been waiting for their Round 2 opponent since they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
If you underestimated the Toronto Maple Leafs' ability to defeat the Boston Bruins in Round 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it turns out you weren't alone.
Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk spoke to the media on Sunday, one day before his club was getting ready to host the Boston Bruins in Round 2. With the Panthers finishing off the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in their opening-round series, Florida had a week's worth of rest before awaiting their opponent between the Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Well, it turns out, Tkachuk felt it was going to be the Bruins all along, even though the Maple Leafs pushed the series to a Game 7 overtime.
"I think, without this coming out too badly, I think we all knew it was going to be Boston the way that series was going," Tkachuk said. "I'm sure a lot of people expected that at the beginning of the series."
Ouch. That's pretty harsh considering the Bruins had just one more win (47) over the Maple Leafs (46) in the regular season. To his point, the Leafs were written off for dead by many once they went down 3-1 in the series and had a poor showing in Game 4. But apparently, Tkachuk's opinion stems from even before that took place.
"With the playoffs you never know but I think throughout the whole series we were probably expecting they (Boston) were going to come out with that one way or another."
Tkachuk and the Panthers know both the Bruins and Leafs well having eliminated both last season en route to a 2023 Stanley Cup Final appearance. But for Leafs fans, the jab leaves a sore mark following yet another early playoff exit and an uncertain future ahead.
Recent
News from THN.com