Tkachuk not swept up in another SCF berth: 'It's all business'

Matthew Tkachuk is proud the Florida Panthers punched their ticket to a third straight Stanley Cup Final, but he isn't feeling the rush of excitement he felt in previous years.

"I remember a few years ago it felt like such an accomplishment," he said, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. "This year, it's all business."

Tkachuk added: "It was really different two years ago. It was so new to us. Whoever we play, we'll be very prepared for them. It's not our first rodeo with this."

The Panthers entered the playoffs as the bottom seed in 2023, famously upsetting the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in Round 1 to spearhead an unexpected Cup Final appearance. Florida won the Atlantic Division last season and went 12-5 in the first three rounds of the playoffs before winning the Stanley Cup in Game 7 over the Edmonton Oilers.

A rematch with the Oilers appears highly likely, as Edmonton holds a 3-1 series lead over the Dallas Stars and can win the West with a victory Thursday night.

No teams have faced off in the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive years since the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings in 2008 and 2009. Each team won once.

"There's one team that's happy at the end of this thing," forward Sam Reinhart said, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo. "We're well aware of that. We've gone through both sides of it. You've got to enjoy this. You've got to enjoy every game, every win, every series win, but we know there's a tremendous amount of work left out there."