William Nylander took a shot at Matthew Tkachuk in a fiery post-game press conference following the Panthers' star's threats after Game 4.
The Maple Leafs managed to blow a 2-0 lead over the Panthers, and the series is now 2-2.
Towards the end of the game, Max Domi landed a controversial hit on Aleksander Barkov near the boards, a hit that could've been devastating for the Panthers.
If the hit had occurred earlier in the game, Domi would've likely been ejected from the game due to the dangerous nature of the hit and the fact that Barkov didn't even have the puck.
Panthers players who were on the ice didn't like the hit and jumped on Domi for what he did to the captain.
If you missed it, here's how it went down:
This is a suspension worthy play by Domi on Barkov. A hit from behind at the final whistle, clear intent to injure pic.twitter.com/tJHd2tWRIe
— NHL Review (@nhl_review) May 12, 2025
Tkachuk, who was watching the scene from the bench, didn't shy away from speaking to his opponents, saying he would go after Nylander in the next game for what Domi did to Barkov.
Watch the exchange involving Nylander and Tkachuk here:
Matthew Tkachuk was telling Willy Nylander that he was going after him next game because of the Domi hit on Barkov 😳 pic.twitter.com/dF0bYkJRxH
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 12, 2025
Following the game, Nylander held a press conference and was asked to comment on Tkachuk's antics. He revealed that he believes his opponent was only talking to him to throw him off his game. He also stated that he expected a long series, and the team mindset reflects that:
'Just talking. That's what he does.''He'll probably do whatever he can to get a player off their game, but yeah, the next game's going to be a fun one. I think they did a good job keeping us on the outside and hard getting to the inside, letting their goalie see the puck. Yeah, they did a great job. The series, it's a tough battle.'
'Yeah, I mean, 2-2,' he said. 'It's going to be a long series. That's our mindset.'
"He'll probably do whatever he can do to get a player off their game. Next game is going to be a fun one."
William Nylander on if Matthew Tkachuk's antics after the game will have any affect on him... 🍿 pic.twitter.com/PvxMh0sPtR— BarDown (@BarDown) May 12, 2025
With the next game set to go down Wednesday night in Toronto, it'll be interesting to see what will happen between Nylander and Tkachuk.
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