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William Nylander Fires Back At Matthew Tkachuk After Game 4 Exchange

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated May 12, 2025 7:50 AM ET

With Game 4 in the books and the series tied at 2-2, the bad blood between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers could be close to reaching its boiling point.

As tempers flared at the final buzzer of Florida’s 2-0 win on Sunday, cameras spotted Matthew Tkachuk shouting across the ice at William Nylander.

“Guess who I’m going to get,” Tkachuk said. “I’m going to get you.”

The warning came seconds after Max Domi blindsided Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov from behind, sending him head-first into the boards and sparking a post-whistle melee.

Domi received a boarding penalty while Eetu Luostarinen and Aaron Ekblad jumped to Barkov’s defense. Four players—including Domi and Panthers' Luostarinen, Ekblad, and Brad Marchand—were handed misconducts.

"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

Panthers coach Paul Maurice offered a promising update on Barkov’s condition while calling on the league to review the hit, expecting some discipline to be applied post-game on Domi for his reckless behavior.

“Yeah, I think he’ll be alright,” Maurice said about Barkov. “I think that the league looks at those things.

“Especially at that point of the game, and they’ll do their job.”

Nylander, for one, wasn’t fazed by Tkachuk's threat ahead of Game 5.

“He’ll probably do whatever he can to get a player off their game,” Nylander said. “Next game is going to be a fun one.”

The final scuffle capped a dominant performance from Florida, which outshot Toronto 37-23 and saw Sergei Bobrovsky record a 23-save shutout, his second of this year's playoffs.

“I mean 2-2, it's going to be a long series,” Nylander said. “That’s where our mind is at.”

Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round between Toronto and Florida is set for puck-drop at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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