In the end, it was a comfortable win for the Panthers, wasn’t it? Yesterday, Florida’s Panthers reigned supreme in the Battle of Florida series, defeating the Lightning 6–3 in Game 5 and sealing the first-round tie comfortably 4–1. While it was supposed to be a closely contested tie in the Battle of Florida series, it turned out to be a rather one-sided affair—prompting a new NHL playoff controversy over just how lopsided this matchup has become. As a result, Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk had a rather shocking admission when asked about the Matthew Tkachuk rivalry with Tampa Bay. It even surprised the fans, who took to social media to call him out over his comments—an extreme example of Panthers vs. Lightning reaction.
After the Panthers completed their series-clinching win, Tkachuk was asked to comment about the Battle of Florida series and how he felt winning it. Putting on a wry smile, Matthew Tkachuk revealed, “I don’t know if it’s really a rivalry. But it’s nice to beat them back-to-back years, both in five, so it’s been fun playing them. We’ve had some success the last couple of years and hopefully can keep the momentum, but it’s a hard-fought series; we don’t like them, and I know they don’t like us. I’m excited.”
Meanwhile, this wasn’t the only win that the Panthers have had over the Lightning in recent playoff matchups. Last year as well, the Panthers defeated them by a similar margin in the first-round tie of the Stanley Cup Playoffs—fueling more debate over ‘Is the Battle of Florida a real rivalry?’ and keeping that NHL playoff controversy alive.
Lightning fans slam Matthew Tkachuk for his comments
As Tkachuk downplayed the Battle of Florida, his comments spread like wildfire on social media. Opposition fans came together to call him out as they felt disrespected by him. One of the fans referred to his long-term injury this season, saying, “He’s his own biggest rival. Thinking he’s tough and getting injured at 4nations was really precious.” Tkachuk suffered a groin injury at the Four Nations Faceoff and had to miss several games for the Panthers.
Meanwhile, a section of fans was brutal in their opposition to Matthew Tkachuk’s comments. “This guys a f**king loser. Show respect to your opponent. Someone needs to put him in his place, if I’m Toronto I am having someone sucker him game 1- knock him out of the series. That’s what they will do to you, do it to them first,” one fan wrote, as he felt that Tkachuk was disrespecting the opposition team.
This guys a fucking loser. Show respect to your opponent. Someone needs to put him in his place, if I’m Toronto I am having someone sucker him game 1- knock him out of the series. That’s what they will do to you, do it to them first. https://t.co/zVRd4rSS4r
— Coach Moser (@Causewayclown37) May 1, 2025
Subsequently, one of the fans clearly disagreed with Tkachuk and felt that the Panthers star had gotten his facts all wrong. The fan revealed, “They’ve played each other four times in the last five playoffs, they’ve split the 4 series, and each team has knocked the other out en-route to winning a Cup. Kind of a solid rivalry if you ask me.” As a result, Matthew Tkachuk’s assessment of his opposition was strongly condemned by the Lightning fans.
Even as the Lightning fans didn’t like Tkachuk’s comments, one of the fans felt that there were some bigwigs in the NHL body who might not have liked Tkachuk’s statement. “Bettman won’t like that assessment,” said a fan, who thought that Tkachuk downplaying the Battle of Florida was a bad sign for the league as a whole. Lastly, one Twitter user compared this situation to that of the rivalry between Canada and the United States. The fan wrote, “With that logic ask him why he thinks Canada vs USA is a rivalry,” as he sarcastically slammed Tkachuk for his views on the Panthers vs. Lightning rivalry.
Nonetheless, Matthew Tkachuk had the last laugh as his team is well on course to defend their Stanley Cup title. They will next face the winner of the tie between the Maple Leafs and the Senators in the second round. Can the Panthers dig deep and win the Stanley Cup this year? Let us know your views in the comments below.
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