Tkachuk, Barkov and Reinhart play through significant injuries to help Panthers win Stanley Cup
Associated Press
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Some top Florida Panthers players gutted through significant injuries to help them repeat as Stanley Cup champions, most notably Matthew Tkachuk dealing with a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle on the same side.
'He was a mess," coach Paul Maurice said. "That's the medical term: He was a mess.'
Maurice said Aleksander Barkov's point production in the final was affected by one of the captain's hands being cut open and that Sam Reinhart returned from a Grade 2 MCL sprain in the Eastern Conference final.
'In Game 1, Sasha split the palm of his hand open,' Maurice said. "He had those sutures torn out twice 'til he just glued it together."
Reinhart came back to score four goals in the clinching Game 6 against Edmonton. No player has done that since Maurice 'Rocket Richard' in 1957.
Tkachuk scored what turned out to be the Cup-winning goal, four months after getting injured playing for the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face-Off. He missed the second half of the regular season.
'I was really not hopeful at the start that he would survive the first round,' Maurice said. 'We just didn't think he could do it.'
Smiling ear to ear on the ice after hoisting the Cup, Tkachuk beamed about the medical treatment that made him able to play.
'I wouldn't be here without the trainers and the doctors and those people, and that's what makes this Cup more special for me is how hard it was just to be out there and to get to the point of playing,' Tkachuk said. 'I owe — this Cup is because of them for me. I'm so lucky.' Perry comes up short
Corey Perry became the first player in NHL history to lose in the final five times in six years with four different teams. Perry was also with the Oilers last year and before that lost in 2022 with Tampa Bay, 2021 with Montreal and 2020 with Dallas.
Had Edmonton won, Perry would have broken the record for the longest gap between Cup championships. He won it with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. Cup handout surprise
Barkov did not hand the Stanley Cup to a longtime teammate like Aaron Ekblad or Sergei Bobrovsky. It went to newcomer and third-pairing defenseman Nate Schmidt, who won it for the first time in his career.
'He just looked at me and he gave me the 'Cap' death stare,' Schmidt said. 'You don't turn those eyes away. No, I didn't know. It was awesome.'
Schmidt then handed it to Seth Jones, who gave it to Tomas Nosek to Vitek Vanecek to A.J. Greer and on to all the other players who hadn't hoisted the Cup before. Jones, a trade acquisition from Chicago late in the season, later celebrated on the ice with his father, retired NBA player Popeye Jones.
'(Barkov) looked me and he said, 'Hey, the guys that haven't done it before, we're going to take a back seat to you guys,'' Schmidt said. "It means a lot.' Dynasty talks
There are a few teams that people point to when the word dynasty comes up. Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. The Tom Brady-led New England Patriots. After successfully defending their title, should this Panthers team be added to that list?
'Hell yeah,' Matthew Tkachuk said. 'Absolutely.'
The dynasty talk started before the series even began, when it became clear that the Florida Panthers would play in their third straight Stanley Cup Final. They've played more hockey games than any other team in the NHL over the past three years, which obviously means they've done a lot of winning.
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
recommended
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How Tkachuk went from uncertain to start playoffs to ‘best I felt' with Panthers near repeat
It was the days leading up to the Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup playoffs opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Matthew Tkachuk still wasn't sure if he would be suiting up when their title defense began. The star winger had been sidelined since mid-February by an apparent groin injury sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off. For three weeks leading up to the postseason, he slowly upped his on-ice progression from simple skating to an individual conditioning plan to finally rejoining team practices. Advertisement Still, Tkachuk wasn't sure if his body would be OK enough — forget fully healthy; that wasn't going to be the case — for him to be able to contribute at the start of the playoffs. 'I thought there was maybe a 50% chance I wouldn't be playing as close to about a week or five days before the playoffs started,' Tkachuk said. But Tkachuk worked. And worked. And worked. 'Very lucky and fortunate that I've got great trainers and doctors,' Tkachuk said. 'They all somehow got me healthy enough to play.' The Panthers are nearly two months into their playoff run now. They enter Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on the cusp of repeating as Stanley Cup champions, leading the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in the best-of-7 series. Advertisement And Tkachuk, while obviously still dealing with some effects of his ailments, has been able to power through to be a key contributor for Florida this postseason. 'I'm feeling the best I felt,' Tkachuk said Monday, on the eve of Florida's first chance to secure a second consecutive title. 'So personally, I'm very happy with where the health is and everything.' Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) battles against Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) and defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) during the first period of Game 4 in the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. Tkachuk enters Tuesday with 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 22 games this postseason. He has logged at least one point in 15 of those 22 outings, including eight of 10 over the past two rounds. But for Tkachuk, the series he knew he needed to be on the ice for was that opening round against the Lightning. Tkachuk said that round 'was definitely the worst I felt, by far' — understandable as it was his first game action since the injury. Advertisement So why did Tkachuk feel the need to play in that series? 'Just knowing that was going to be, other than this round, that was our toughest round, playing Tampa,' Tkachuk said. 'So I knew that even at nowhere close to what I expected out of myself, I knew I needed to help out as best I can, if we're going to get by them.' Florida got by them in five games. Tkachuk made a statement in the series opener, scoring twice on the power play and adding another assist despite only playing 11:43 while coach Paul Maurice eased him back into game action. Tkachuk finished the round with five points, adding another goal in Florida's Game 3 loss and an assist in the series-clinching Game 5. Advertisement Maurice already knew how much pain Tkachuk was willing to play through to help his team in the playoffs. He saw it two years earlier, when Tkachuk sustained a fractured sternum in the first period Game 3 of the 2023 Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights on an open-ice hit by Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar. Tkachuk finished that game, scoring the game-tying goal with 2:13 left in regulation before Florida won in overtime. Tkachuk managed to play 16:40 in Game 4 of that series before having to be held out of Game 5. 'He could adapt his game very well,' Maurice said. 'We knew he wasn't 100% or close to it, actually.' Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) skates away from teammates after celebrating his second goal of the game during the first period of Game 4 in the NHL Stanley Cup Final series at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. He probably still isn't, although Maurice on Monday said Tkachuk is at 'full health,' but Tkachuk's fitness has improved each round. So, too, has his game. Advertisement He had four assists and 22 hits while averaging a little more than 18:30 minutes per game in Florida's seven-game second-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had two goals and seven points — plus 13 hits and five blocked shots — while averaging about 17 minutes per game in Florida's five-game Eastern Conference final series against the Carolina Hurricanes. And he has six two goals and six points through the first five games of the Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton while averaging more than 19:30 minutes per game. 'I think the last three games he's played have been the best of the playoffs by far, so he's back,' Maurice said. 'But it was still the mental part about how far you want to stress that — taking hits, giving hits and things like that.' Advertisement Tkachuk has learned what it takes to be ready even when not at his best. Being part of three elongated playoff runs during the past three years — Florida's game on Tuesday will be No. 314 since the start of the 2022-23 season — helps with that. Tkachuk said the grind of playing that much hockey in that span is 'probably worse than anybody could imagine.' But the end result — the potential to win a second Stanley Cup — is well worth it. 'We've worked so hard this year and gone through so many ups and downs and so much,' Tkachuk said. 'It's been a grueling year. It's been tough with guys fighting through injuries, guys having down years. For us to be in this position right now, we've worked so hard for this.'
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Liverpool starts Premier League title defense against Bournemouth while Man U hosts Arsenal
Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Liverpool will begin its latest Premier League title defense at home to Bournemouth on Aug. 15, while Manchester United will host Arsenal in the opening round of next season. The Premier League released its fixture schedule for the 2025-26 season on Wednesday, giving teams and their fans a chance to start planning less than a month since the last campaign finished. Liverpool will be bidding for a third league championship in six years, likely with Florian Wirtz in its squad, and will play the first match of the season in a Friday night start at Anfield against a Bournemouth team that finished in ninth place. It's quite a tough beginning for Arne Slot's champions, with a trip to Newcastle in the second round followed by a home match against Arsenal — another team in the Champions League — a week later. Arsenal, which finished second for a third straight year last season, heads to Old Trafford for its first game and will play Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle in its opening six matches. Everton bade farewell to its long-time home at Goodison Park at the end of last season and the first game in its state-of-the-art, 53,000-capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock will be against Brighton on Aug. 23. Thomas Frank 's first Premier League game in charge of Tottenham will be at home to promoted Burnley on Aug 16. That comes three days after Frank's competitive debut with Tottenham, the Europa League champion, against Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup. Sunderland's first Premier League game since the 2016-17 season is at home to West Ham, while Leeds hosts Everton first after returning to the top flight following a two-year absence. ___ AP soccer: recommended
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark's First Post After Fever-Sun Game Where She Took a Hard Hit
Caitlin Clark's First Post After Fever-Sun Game Where She Took a Hard Hit originally appeared on Athlon Sports. WNBA star Caitlin Clark led the Indiana Fever to a second straight win on Tuesday, although it wasn't without controversy. Advertisement Clark recorded 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, adding six assists and two steals. She also made four of her six shots from deep as the Fever took an 88-71 win over the Connecticut Sun. With the victory, Indiana booked its ticket to the Commissioner's Cup championship as the Eastern Conference representative. The team is now set to face the Minnesota Lynx in the final on July 1. However, the biggest story in the game was not the final-clinching scenario, but rather the heated altercation that happened during the third quarter of the contest. Clark was shoved by Sun guard Marina Mabrey after the Fever playmaker got heated with Jacy Sheldon. Sheldon poked Clark in the face and bumped her, leading the Fever star to push her away. Mabrey then saw the interaction and proceeded to hit Clark, sending her to the floor. Advertisement Clark, Mabrey and Tina Charles all got technical fouls, while Sheldon was assessed a flagrant 1 foul. Sun guard Marina Mabrey (4) stares at Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22).Mark Smith-Imagn Images Despite what happened, though, Caitlin Clark just seemed happy that they got the win and now move on to the championship game of the Commissioners Cup. That much is clear in Clark's social media post following the game. In her Instagram Stories, she shared a post from photographer Bri Lewerke, which showed photos of the Fever All-Star looking hyped during the game. Lewerke captioned the post, "You like that? — drawing the attention of Clark herself. Caitlin Clark posted on her Instagram Stories after the Indiana Fever's win over the Connecticut Clark/Instagram For what it's worth, Clark doesn't seem to be bothered by the incident when speaking to the media postgame. When asked about the altercation and if she felt the need to "stand up more" for herself, she said, "No." Advertisement "I mean, at the end of the day, I'm here to play basketball, and that's my job," Clark explained. "That's what I'm going to do. "I was excited. Honestly, the review took too long for me. I wanted to get playing basketball again, and that's exactly what I did in the rest of the third quarter. I made all three free throws, and it was a tough three. I was excited about a three." Related: Lexie Hull Catches Attention for What She Did After Caitlin Clark Got Decked This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
