Five Matthew Tkachuk stats to add perspective to strong first five games with Panthers
If there has been one constant so far through the Florida Panthers’ first five games of the 2022-23 season, it has been the performance of All-Star winger Matthew Tkachuk.
“He’s produced every night for us.” coach Paul Maurice said.
Heading into the Panthers’ 5 p.m. Sunday game against the New York Islanders, Tkachuk has been the team’s top point producer, leading the Panthers with three goals and five assists. It’s the type of production the Panthers were hoping to get from Tkachuk after they acquired him in a trade this offseason from the Calgary Flames in exchange for fellow All-Star wing Jonathan Huberdeau and star defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.
But let’s dive a little deeper into Tkachuk’s efforts in his first handful of games with Florida.
Here are five stats that better help define what Tkachuk has done for a Florida team that is 3-1-1 so far on the young season.
He has at least one points in each of first five games.
Tkachuk is the only player in Panthers franchise history who can say that.
The Panthers’ previous record was a four-game point streak to start the season, done 10 previous times by nine players. That group, starting with the most recent: Carter Verhaeghe (at the start of both the 2021 season and the 2021-22 season), Mike Hoffman (to start the 2019-2020 season), Jonathan Huberdeau (to start the 2017-2018 season), Vincent Trocheck (to start the 2017-2018 season), Kris Versteeg (to start the 2011-2012 season), Nathan Horton (to start the 2008-2009 season), Olli Jokinen (to start the 2005-2006 season), Pavel Bure (to start the 1999-2000 season) and Jody Hull (to start the 1995 season).
He is also just the third player in franchise history to start his tenure with the club (which includes players acquired midseason) with a point streak of that length, joining Ray Whitney (seven games in the 1997-98 season) and Bure (six games in 1998-99 season).
Tkachuk, meanwhile, is one of just five players in the NHL this season with points in each of his team’s first five games, joining the Colorado Avalanche’s Valeri Nichushkin, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos, the Buffalo Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin and the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin.
He has been involved in half of the Panthers’ goals scored this season.
The Panthers have scored 16 goals this season. Tkachuk has scored three of them and tallied five assists.
His three primary assists are tied with linemate Sam Bennett for most on the team, while his two secondary assists are tied with Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling for the team lead.
He is not afraid to shoot.
Tkachuk leads the team with 24 shots on goal, six more than his next closest teammate (Forsling, 18). This directly leads to him leading the team in a slew of additional offensive categories, including...
▪ 3.99 expected goals based on shot quality (Bennett is second with 2.1).
▪ 28 scoring chances (Sam Reinhart is second with 23).
▪ 14 high danger changes (Reinhart and Bennett are tied for second with eight)
▪ Six rebounds created (Reinhart, Patric Hornqvist, Barkov and Marc Staal are tied for second with three).
His impact on the penalty box.
Tkachuk has taken his share of penalties — he has been called for a team- and NHL-leading seven penalties (all minors) and his 14 penalty minutes rank third in the league behind only the Nashville Predators’ Matt Duchene (18 penalty minutes) and the Anaheim Ducks’ Max Comtois (24 minutes).
On the flip side, Tkachuk has also drawn a team- and NHL-leading seven penalties to create nearly a third of the Panthers’ 23 power play opportunities.
When he’s on the ice at full strength...
The Panthers have outshot opponents 43-33 and outscored them 6-5, while leading 44-23 in scoring chances and 19-14 in high-danger chances.
The bulk of Tkachuk’s even-strength ice time has been with Bennett at center and Rudolfs Balcers on the other wing.
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