It's safe to say Matthew Tkachuk didn't BeLeaf.

The Florida Panthers forward wasn't surprised that the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1 and admitted that his team were anticipating the outcome.

"Without this coming out too badly, I think we all knew it was probably going to be Boston the way that series was going," Tkachuk told reporters Sunday. "I'm sure a lot of people expected that at the beginning of the series.

"Playoffs, I guess you never know. But I think throughout the whole series we were probably expecting they were going to come out and win it one way or the other."

The Maple Leafs fought back from a 3-1 series deficit to force a Game 7 before the Bruins prevailed via David Pastrnak's overtime winner on Saturday.

Toronto has now been eliminated in Round 1 of the postseason in seven of the last eight years. The lone exception was in 2023 when the Leafs advanced to Round 2 before falling to the Panthers in five games.

Tkachuk's Panthers will now play the Bruins in Round 2 - a rematch after the underdog Cats clawed back from a 3-1 hole to beat a historically great Boston team in Round 1 a year ago.

However, the Bruins got the better of the Panthers during the 2023-24 regular season, winning all four meetings. That doesn't overly concern Tkachuk, though.

"They definitely got us in the regular season," he said. "I think if you ask them they're probably using that for confidence going into this series. We're like 'regular season doesn't matter, we got them in playoffs.'"

Game 1 goes down Monday at 8 p.m. ET.

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Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko will miss Game 1 of Round 2 against the Edmonton Oilers, head coach Rick Tocchet announced Sunday, per Sportsnet's Brendan Batchelor.

Demko's status beyond Game 1 is unknown.

The 28-year-old started Vancouver's playoff opener against the Nashville Predators but missed the remaining five games of the series due to a knee injury. While it's not the same injury that caused Demko to miss 14 games late in the regular season, it is the same knee that's ailing him.

Backup goalie Casey DeSmith started Games 2 and 3 against the Predators before suffering an injury of his own. He was healthy enough to return for Game 5, though rookie third-stringer Arturs Silovs started over the veteran to close out the series.

The 23-year-old Silovs performed admirably despite entering the postseason with just nine games of NHL experience. He posted a .938 save percentage in three postseason appearances, including a 28-save shutout in the series-clinching Game 6 victory.

However, the Oilers present an entirely different challenge than the Predators. Edmonton boasted the NHL's No. 4 offense and power play in the regular season and put up 22 goals in five games in Round 1 against the Los Angeles Kings.

Demko was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy after posting a .918 save percentage and a 2.45 goals-against average in 51 games during the 2023-24 regular season.

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