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Anthony Gharib, ESPN
As if eliminating the Boston Bruins for the second straight season in the postseason weren’t enough, the Florida Panthers made sure to troll another Boston-based sports team on social media.
The Panthers defeated the Bruins 2-1 to close out their series in six games behind a late goal by Gustav Forsling. Florida advances to its second straight Eastern Conference finals after reaching it only once in its first 28 years of existence, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
On Wednesday, the Boston Celtics knocked the Cleveland Cavaliers out of the NBA playoffs after a Game 5 win. They then proceeded to troll Cavaliers guard Max Strus, who had arrived at the game wearing a Panthers jersey.
Strus, who spent three seasons with the Miami Heat, wore the jersey a night after the Bruins won on the road to force a Game 6. He was part of the Heat team that eliminated the Celtics in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals.
But Florida got the last laugh and returned the favor after its win Friday. The Panthers posted an old clip of Celtics star Jayson Tatum calling Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk “a great guy.”
no comment. https://t.co/WkDg4N65QN pic.twitter.com/n3u49X6OXY
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 18, 2024
The clip comes from a video posted on Tatum’s YouTube channel in April 2013 that Tatum and Tkachuk both appeared in. Tatum and Tkachuk were classmates at Chaminade Prep in St. Louis.
Tkachuk recorded an assist on Florida’s game-winning goal Friday and had a point in three of six games against Boston.
The Panthers will play the New York Rangers in the next round, while the Celtics will take on the winner of the Indiana Pacers-New York Knicks series.
Source: www.espn.com