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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.
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.
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.'
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.
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.
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.'
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.
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.'
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.'
