Playing for the first time in more than two months after dealing with a lower-body injury, Tkachuk scored two second-period goals in his return game for the Panthers in their Eastern Conference first-round series opener at Tampa Bay. Florida went on to win 6-2, the outcome never in doubt after that second-period flurry by the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
Tkachuk finished with two goals and an assist, the fifth three-point game of his playoff career.
“It was a long two months away,” Tkachuk said in a televised postgame interview. “You miss everything, but you just miss competing, on the ice, in the locker room with the guys, just going through it all. I missed that the most. It's so, so nice to be back out there with them.”
His two goals were both power-play tallies, the first putting Florida up 4-1 — the second goal for the Panthers in a 14-second span that blew the game open — and the next one pushing the lead to 5-1 midway through the second period.
It was just like old times: Tkachuk got twisted up with Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel — someone he fought during the 4 Nations Face-off tournament — after one whistle, took the game's first penalty on a roughing call (leading to Tampa Bay's first goal), then made sure his name was all over the scoresheet.
Florida coach Paul Maurice, in a televised in-game interview with ESPN, said he was comfortable with what he was seeing from Tkachuk in his first game back and expected him to “be the difference-maker” for the Panthers.
“That's what he is for us," Maurice said. "He's got an incredible set of hands, got an incredible gift for the emotional needs of a game, when you need a hit, when you need a big play. He's been great for us.”
Tkachuk said there were times during his two months away that he wasn't sure if he would be ready to return this season. And the decision on whether Tkachuk would even be out there for Game 1 wasn't certain until just before game time.
Tkachuk went through practices Saturday and Monday, then took part in the team's day-of-game skate Tuesday in Tampa before the final decision on his return was made; Maurice even indicated that it could come down to the final few minutes before the 8:48 p.m. start time of the game.
Tkachuk hadn't played for the Panthers since Feb. 8 because of a lower-body injury suffered during the 4 Nations Face-off tournament two months ago.
He was on Florida's second line for practice Monday and the skate on Tuesday, alongside Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Bennett — his linemates for Game 1 as well. And Game 1 also marked Tkachuk's first time in a game with former Boston forward Brad Marchand as one of his teammates. The Panthers acquired Marchand at the trade deadline; Marchand had an assist in Tuesday's win.
Tkachuk missed the team’s final 25 games of the regular season, yet still finished with 22 goals, 35 assists and 57 points — third-most on the team in all three categories. He was also second on the Panthers this season with 11 power-play goals.
Over his first two playoff runs with the Panthers in 2023 and 2024, both of which netted trips to the Stanley Cup Final, Tkachuk had 46 points in 44 games. And Tuesday was his fourth multi-goal playoff game since joining Florida; the Panthers are 4-0 in those games.
“Matthew's good on the power play, really good. He knows what he's doing down there,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “I think we kind of gave him the second one; we threw it right on his stick."
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP