It’s happened again: the Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t made it past round 2 of the playoffs, while the Florida Panthers are gearing up for the Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. In two days, Florida will be facing off against the Hurricanes in the PNC Arena, but in the meantime, Matthew Tkachuk has a word of warning for his opponents.

On a recent episode of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Paul Bissonnette inquired about Tkachuk’s whereabouts post the big win at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, assuming that Tkachuk would already be back in Florida preparing for Wednesday’s game. However, Tkachuk was quick to correct him. “We’re still in Toronto,” he said, adding with a smile, “We packed for three games.”

Impressed with Tkachuk’s confidence, Bissonnette responded to this with a resounding, “You knew, you knew.” Presumably alluding to Tkachuk and the Panthers knowing they won’t need to pack much, as they’ll strike a lead against the Hurricanes fast. To which Tkachuk retorted with an impish, “I wouldn’t say we knew, but we’re planning on it.”

It’s commendable that Matthew Tkachuk, who has scored 0 goals and only managed three assists for his team in the past five games, is going into round 3 with this much confidence, but hey, you’ve gotta stay strong for the game. And considering the Hurricanes beat the Capitals in just 5 games as opposed to the Panthers vs. Leafs series that rolled into 7, maybe confidence is the only way forward?

What to expect from Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers in round 3 of the playoffs?

We all know Matthew Tkachuk is prone to making a solid threat, as he did with William Nylander in game 4 of the round 2 playoffs against the Leafs. In solidarity with his captain Aleksander Barkov, who took a heavy hit from the Leaf’s Max Domi, Tkachuk said to Nylander that he’d come for him in game 5. So, this new dig at Carolina is only expected, but does it carry any weight?

The Canes and the Panthers seem fairly evenly paired entering round 3 together for the second time in the last three seasons. While the Canes won the last time these two teams met in January, the Panthers have been holding strong to their reigning legacy and have been the team to score the most playoff games in the past 2 rounds, amounting to 45 in total.

The Canes have been looking better penalty-wise, but Florida is close behind. One big difference, though, is that Bobrovsky isn’t in the same shape he was in in 2023, when he only allowed 6 goals in 4 games. This year the man between Florida’s pipes has allowed 28 goals in 12 games, so with the Canes’ penalty tactics, this will certainly make for an interesting round.

However, Matthew Tkachuk seems to think nothing of it, and in the recent past at least, his confidence has served his team well, even if it hasn’t amounted to many personal feats for himself, so there may just be something to it.