Matthew Tkachuk Played Through Pain Before, Likely is Again

 It appears that that the Panthers are going to be dealing with whether Matthew Tkachuk is fully healthy or not every time he steps onto the ice.

Tkachuk is a player who would have to be chained to a wall to stay out of the postseason, so, deal with it they will.

And, for the most part, Tkachuk looked pretty good on Tuesday night — two months out of action or not.

Tkachuk, of course, made his triumphant return to the Panthers in Florida’s 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

“What was on display were the hands,” coach Paul Maurice said. “Just an incredible set of hands. I thought his game was OK. When you put it into the context of he hasn’t play a game in two months, you or I wouldn’t have any hands in that game.

“He can still take that much time off and handle the puck the way he handles it. The rest of it was just smartly played by him in that I don’t think he was in the rhythm of the game.”

Said Tkachuk: “There are some plays that I wish I could have back, I was, maybe dipping my toe in a little at the start. But I feel great.’’

Tkachuk played a big role in the win, scoring a pair of power-play goals in the second period and assisting on Nate Schmidt’s goal in the third.

His return was an obvious boost.

“He’s not a guy you can put a label on,” Schmidt said. “He’s such a unicorn of a player. But, more than anything, just how he is in the room, getting the guys fired up for the game, you feel his energy, you feel his excitement.’’

Tkachuk had been out since mid-February with a suspected groin injury — although, it may be something else, hence the ‘suspected’ part — and had just begun skating again a few weeks back.

It will not be a surprise to hear that, once this Panthers season is complete, that Tkachuk will need offseason surgery.

There have already been rumors circulating that he flew to Europe after being hurt at the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off to visit specialists in an attempt to get back on the ice sooner than later.

For now, however, Tkachuk is going to give the Panthers everything he has.

We have seen that before.

In Game 3 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, Tkachuk was leveled by Keegan Kolesar of the Vegas Golden Knights while looking to clear the puck out of the defensive zone.

The hit fractured Tkachuk’s sternum, but he soldiered on — scoring the game-tying goal in the third period of that game which Carter Verhaeghe won in overtime.

Tkachuk was slow to meet the media postgame, opting to do his interview at his locker stall instead of making the walk to the makeshift press conference room.

He did the interview still wearing his pads, taking them off was apparently too painful.

Tkachuk played in Game 4, too, only he was obviously limited to playing, basically, with one arm.

Still, he played almost 17 minutes and got off four shots.

His brother Brady, staying with him in Fort Lauderdale at the time, later said he had to help Matthew get out of bed after a failed attempt at a pregame nap before Game 4 because he could not do it himself.

Matthew Tkachuk could not play in Game 5, with Vegas winning the Stanley Cup in a rout.

The Panthers know how much Tkachuk wants to win, and, how much he will sacrifice to do so.

That was on display in February when he sustained the injury in a 4 Nations game against Canada. Team USA assistant coach John Tortorella pulled him from the game.

After a few days of rest, Tkachuk declared himself ready to play in the championship game but could not. He was limited to 6:47 and did not finish the second period.

Tkachuk is probably playing through some pain now, and Maurice was asked if he held his breath when his star forward stumbled and went crashing into the corner early in the first on Tuesday.

In true Tkachuk fashion, No. 19 hopped back onto his skates, made a hit at the net, and played on.

“For Matthew, there is a lot of unknown because he has not had a lot of practice to work on all the battle time,” Maurice said Wednesday. “It’s one thing to put a player back in the regular season … the playoffs are such a different animal. So, you’re watching him closely.

“The one thing, even though Matthew is not 100 percent, I saw him play a really smart game with a broken collar bone. He had three of our best chances to score that night against Vegas two years ago. So, he can adapt his game.”

Not long after that, Tkachuk sized up Nikita Kucherov along the boards trying to free up the puck — but got called for a roughing.

The Lightning tied the score at 1 on the ensuing power play.

“It was a take, probably, of two games for him,’’ Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “He took the penalty in the first period that we scored on, but then he scores two power play goals. Matthew is good on the power play. Like, really good. He knows what he’s doing down there.”

The Panthers kept an eye on Tkachuk’s minutes Tuesday, limiting him to 11:43.

They will continue to monitor the situation.

“He got through the game fine,’’ Maurice said. “Seems fine today. We’ll get through the morning skate, make sure nothing has changed tomorrow.’’