Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Panthers star throws some shade at defeated Maple Leafs

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 5/5/24

After beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games to move on to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Florida Panthers spent a few days waiting to see if their next opponent would be the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs.

It ended up being the Bruins following their Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday night. That result was not really a shock to Panthers superstar Matthew Tkachuk. He used the outcome as an opportunity to throw some serious shade at the Maple Leafs on Sunday afternoon.

Tkachuk: "Without this coming out too badly, I think we all knew it was probably going to Boston the way that series was going...I think throughout the whole series we were probably expecting they were going to come out and win it one way or another." pic.twitter.com/LBvEcJdxPG
— Jori Negin-Shecter (@JNeginShecter) May 5, 2024

That is Tkachuk basically saying that he knew the Maple Leafs were going to find a way to lose, which is some serious trolling of a divisional rival.

Expecting Toronto to lose in the playoffs at this point – especially in a Game 7 – is pretty much a given for most hockey fans at this point because that is what the Maple Leafs have consistently done. Over the past eight years, they have won just a single playoff series with this current core and as an organization have lost their last six winner-take-all games in the postseason.

Hearing that sort of sentiment come from an opposing player is the type of trash talk that you do not normally get from hockey players. But Tkachuk is not like most players. He is one of the most agitating players in the league for opponents on the ice due to his style of play. He is not afraid to agitate them off the ice as well.

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