April 23, 2025, 12:01am
TAMPA, Fla. — Matthew Tokachuk is back in his much-anticipated lineup and quickly returns to his old self for the Florida Panthers Tuesday night.
Tkachuk, who played for the first time in more than two months since dealing with a lower body injury, handled rival Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 in the Eastern Conference first-round series opener, 6-2 at Amalie Arena.
These two goals were both Power Play breeds, bringing the first Florida up to 4-1. This was the Panthers’ second goal in 14 seconds, with the next goal pushing the lead to 5-1 midway through the second term.
It was like the old days: Tkachuk twisted after one whit in Brandon Hagel on Tampa Bay (the guy he fought in the 4 Nations showdown tournament) to make sure his name was connected to everything on the score sheet sheet sheet.
Florida manager Paul Maurice said in-game, in a bench interview with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan that he was pleased with what he saw from Tokachuk in his first game and expected him to become the “difference maker” for the Panthers.
“That’s what it’s for him,” Maurice said. “He has an incredible hand and has got an amazing gift for the emotional needs of the game. When you need a hit, when you need a big play. He’s great for us.”
Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers, with veteran defender Nate Schmidt, unseen for offense, also added two more goals as Florida, who won the Stanley Cup last June, defeated his opponents in front of a sold-out crowd, and Florida, who founded all the key Game 2 on Thursday.
Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasirebski will need to sharpen his game to forget about his performance on Tuesday. The two Stanley Cup winners allowed all six goals with just 16 shots and closed with a .625 save percentage. Beyond the ice, Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves for victory.
“The series isn’t winning one game, so there’s something positive about it. There were a lot of people playing their first playoff games tonight. “But in the end, we gave up six goals. We’re a pretty decent defensive team and we have something very good. [penalty-kill unit]and gave up on three [goals] On top of that. … Ultimately, these are our realms of strength, so we are sure we can make them a button. We’re fine. ”
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Jake Guanzel scored for Tampa Bay in his first season with the club. However, Lightning played the final 33:30 without center Anthony Cirelli, which showed. There was no immediate reason why the 27-year-old center was released.
“We gave up on 16 shots. It’s usually good night, but not tonight. They’re a good team. You know they have good players.” “So for us, it’s all focused on everything, make sure you’re doing good practice tomorrow and get ready for the next practice.”
It was not certain whether Tkachuk would play in Game 1 until just before game time. Tkachuk practiced on Saturday and Monday, then took part in the team’s game day skating on Tuesday before his decision to return home was made. Maurice even showed that it could be the last few minutes before the game’s start time at 8:48pm.
“It’s not really a guy you can label,” Schmidt said of Tkachuk. “He’s a player’s unicorn. But more than anything, the way he’s in the room, the guys are flaring up for the game, you feel his energy, you feel his excitement.”
Tkachuk has not played for the Panthers since February 8th due to a lower body injury in the 4 Nations showdown tournament two months ago. He missed the team’s final 25 games in the regular season, but finished with 22 goals and 57 points. It is the third most common on the team in all three categories. He also placed second in his second power play goal for the Panthers this season.
“I can’t have more time to become an athlete,” Tkachuk told Kaplan in a postgame interview in relation to the postseason. “This is the time of our lives, and the winner of Game 1 here is Cherry at the top.”
The Panthers moved forward with Brad Merchand, who was acquired by the Boston Bruins at the NHL trade deadline, making his new team’s postseason debut in the victory, and also played for the first time with Tkachuk. Merchand had assists and two shots on the net at 17:15 ice time, but appeared to fit Florida’s dominant forward group.
“Both teams will see the tape and find out what they can do better,” Maurice said after the victory. “However, the series still has no established identity.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
