April 21, 2025, 3:58pm
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Matthew Tokachuk skates Tuesday morning. Everyone is guessing if they’ll play for the Florida Panthers in a playoff opener on Tuesday night.
Tkachuk has not played for the Panthers since February 8th and has not played the game since facing off due to injuries from four countries two months ago, but practiced on Monday with the Stanley Cup Champions, his second ice training of three days.
However, the Panthers hope to get past their morning skating on Tuesday before deciding whether to play in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Series that night in Tampa Bay.
“He has to get over his skating tomorrow morning,” Panthers manager Paul Maurice said after practice Monday. “We’re still monitoring the recovery from practice, so he left early before we went, went through the whole practice and stayed until the end. It feels like he’s coming back for tomorrow.
Tkachuk was injured in the second game of the 4 Nations event and then tried to play in the final against Canada, but did not make a shift in the third term of that contest or overtime.
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The Panthers placed Tkachuk in a long-term injury reserve. He missed the team’s final 25 games in the regular season, but finished with 22 goals, 35 assists and 57 points. He was third in the team in all three categories. He also placed second in his second power play goal for the Panthers this season.
This decision is whether he is ready for Game 1 or Game 2 or Game 2. Maurice pointed out that two more days — the game between the series opener and the second game on Thursday — might be useful. It could have also helped the series not yet started when the other five already have and two more are scheduled to open on Monday.
“If you feel you’re there, you put yourself in that situation where you consider two more days, so we’re close enough,” Maurice said. “We’ll have the doctor and Matthew tell us where he is and we’ll go from there.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
