Tkachuk stole the show in Game 1 in Toronto by showing off a different part of his game
Scotiabank Arena was at the center of the hockey world Tuesday, and just about all anyone wanted to ask players and coaches about after the Florida Panthers beat the Maple Leafs, 4-2, in Game 1 of Round 2 was Matthew Tkachuk.
With the NHL’s brightest spotlight shined squarely upon him, Tkachuk dismantled the Maple Leafs with three assists to help the Panthers open up a 1-0 series lead on Toronto.
“He looks like a kid who grew up in the game,” coach Paul Maurice said in response to one of four postgame questions he got about his superstar right wing Tuesday. “He’s seen someone doing that for years.”
The three points were only a small part of the story for the son of former All-Star left wing Keith Tkachuk.
The 26-year-old winger led all players with nine hits. He drew two penalties, one of which led to star defenseman Brandon Montour’s third-period goal on a delayed penalty. He fired three shots and posted a plus-minus of plus-2 in 20:45. When Tkachuk was on the ice for 5-on-5 play, Florida outshot the Maple Leafs, 13-5, and had an 11-4 advantage in scoring chances.
For the first game of this second-round series, there was no question who was the best skater on the ice and now the Panthers have a chance to bust it open when they play Game 2 on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Toronto.
“There’s a lot to handle there in terms of how he plays,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Tuesday, “and when I say, ‘how he plays,’ I mean he’s so dynamic in that he can hurt you on the rush, he can make a play, he can score a goal, he’s gonna drive the net, he’s gonna be around the crease, he’s as good as any player in the NHL behind the goal line and in along the back wall, so there’s a lot to handle there.”
With five goals and six assists in Round 1, Tkachuk was already having a spectacular postseason, but the Bruins required the the All-Star winger to lean on different parts of his game. Boston had the league’s stingiest defense in the regular season and Florida had to physically work hard for most of its goals in the first round and all of Tkachuk’s eight even-strength points came off split-second decisions, mostly with one-time goals or takeaways in the offensive zone. To win the series in overtime of Game 7, Tkachuk ground out a battle behind the Bruins’ net until the puck popped out to left wing Carter Verhaeghe, who scored the game-winning goal in Boston.
The difference for Round 2 is already obvious. On all three of his assists Tuesday, Tkachuk truly got to make plays, dancing with the puck and toying with the Bruins, with all the time and space the Panthers never got to see in Round 1.
On Florida’s first goal, Tkachuk pulled a puck out of the right corner of the offensive zone, faked a pass to the center of the ice to turn around All-Star right wing Mitch Marner — a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward — and bounced a shot off Toronto goaltender Ilya Samsonov and to forward Nick Cousins for a rebound goal. On the Panthers’ second, Tkachuk operated from the right-hand boards, made a pass to Aaron Ekblad at the point and center Sam Bennett tipped in the star defenseman’s long-range bomb to put Florida up 2-0.
“He’s a hell of a player. He makes the game easy,” Bennett said. “He battles so hard, and he’s one of the best at drawing guys to him and then dishing.”
The Panthers’ final goal, albeit with an extra skater on the ice because of a delayed penalty, was maybe Florida’s best display of skill yet, as Tkachuk, All-Star center Aleksander Barkov and Montour passed around the perimeter and through the defense to each other until Montour finally loaded up for a slap-shot goal to put Florida ahead 4-2 with 7:36 remaining.
“He can drive play and drive physicality,” Maurice said.
In Round 1, the Panthers played at the Bruins’ pace. In Game 1 of Round 2, they played at their own. Florida won in both situations and Tkachuk thrived.
It’s why the Panthers went out and traded star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau, star defenseman MacKenzie Weegar and a first-round pick to get Tkachuk from the Flames in the offseason.
Boston’s style fits the stereotype of postseason hockey and Florida knew Tkachuk could play against it. His skill, Maurice has often said this year, has surprised even the Panthers, though. The combination of both is why he’s a dark-horse contender for the Hart Memorial Trophy — the league’s MVP award — and the leading scorer in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs so far.
“He’s a force,” Bennett said. “He steps up in big games and he’s physical, he makes players, he scores goals and he’s one of the rarest players in the NHL.”
