Mikhail Sergachev Takes Another Shot At Maple Leafs
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs have built quite the rivalry over the past few years, and after a Leafs win in the playoffs last year, one Lightning player hasn't stopped talking about them.
An upset win for Toronto
After years of trying, the Maple Leafs finally made it out of the first round, and while the win amounted to nothing, it was still a step in the right direction for the core four and the Maple Leafs.
Now, they'll look to go another step in 2023-24, but with the way the playoffs have unfolded recently, it appears they'll have to do battle with Tampa Bay once again, and one player over there seems ready for the challenge.
An emerging star
When asked about the Leafs series in a recent interview, 25-year old Mikhail Sergachev had this to say.
We don't want to be the team that Toronto finally (beats to get) to the second round.
This speaks to the level of confidence that the Lightning have every year in their playing group, but it also speaks to their disdain for the Leafs, and how they believe that they shouldn't have lost that series.
Either way, they ended up being the first team in 19 years to lose to the Maple Leafs in the first round, and unless they want that to happen again, they'll need to be much better in 2023-24.
As Read on The Score - Sergachev still bothered by loss to Leafs: 'We should've won the Cup'
| POLL | ||
Who will go further in 2023-24? | ||
| Toronto | 586 | 82.3 % |
| Tampa Bay | 126 | 17.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
