The Panthers' second-round Stanley Cup playoff series opponent was determined Saturday night, and it proved to be the team Matthew Tkachuk expected all along.
Florida had been watching and waiting for the Bruins-Maple Leafs series to end ever since it finished off the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 29. Boston and Toronto ultimately settled things in a win-or-go-home Game 7, which David Pastrnak and company claimed in overtime at TD Garden.
The Original Six clubs going the distance suggests they were evenly matched. Tkachuk, however, seemingly didn't give the Leafs much of a chance against the Black and Gold.
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"I think that -- without this coming out too badly, I think we all knew it was probably going to be Boston the way that series was going," Tkachuk told reporters Sunday, as seen in a Bleacher Report video. "I'm sure a lot of people expected that at the beginning of the series. Playoffs, I guess, you never know. But I think throughout the whole series we were probably expecting they were gonna come out and win that one way or the other."
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Tkachuk's remarks are up for interpretation. The Panthers star has no problem being an agitator, so he very well might have rubbed salt in the Maple Leafs' wound. But he also might have pumped the Bruins' tires as a means of gamesmanship before what figures to be a very hard-fought series.
The best-of-seven set will kick off Monday night at Amerant Bank Arena. Puck drop for Game 1 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
Featured image via Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports Images
