Matthew Tkachuk on Florida Panthers’ start: ‘There’s just so much to improve on’
The sample size is still small, just six games in an 82-game regular season, but All-Star winger Matthew Tkachuk has a blunt assessment of where the Florida Panthers stand through the first two weeks of the season.
“We’re .500 right now,” Tkachuk said, “so there’s just so much to improve on.”
The Panthers are 3-3-0 entering their Saturday game against the Seattle Kraken to cap a four-game homestand at Amerant Bank Arena. They have yet to have a winning record this season and have trailed in four of their six games. Their three wins were all one-goal games down to the end, with the Panthers banking empty-net goals in the final seconds of two of the three to pad the lead at the very end.
There have been inconsistencies in their play, an effect of roster turnover and key players missing time early.
Tkachuk, a finalist for the NHL’s Hart Memorial Trophy last season, has been a bit snake-bitten, too. He has yet to score a goal this season despite leading the team in shots on goal (28), scoring changes (32), high-danger chances (24) and expected goals (4.33). Tkachuk does have a team-high five primary assists and is tied with Evan Rodrigues with six assists overall.
While the Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Final last season, they don’t want a repeat of the regular season that preceded it, one in which Florida dug itself an early hole and needed nearly everything to go its way following the All-Star Break to sneak into the playoffs.
They want to start stacking wins now, in the early stages of the season, so they can have some wiggle room down the stretch.
“We’ve gotta get above .500,” Tkachuk said, “and stay above it.”
How do they do that?
Tkachuk first points to the Panthers building off their 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
Florida had a 36-28 edge in shots on goal and 43-19 advantage in scoring chances against San Jose. Tkachuk had two assists — his third multi-point game of the season — and a season-high seven shots on goal, tied for the sixth-most he has had in a game since joining the Panthers in a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames ahead of the 2022-23 season.
“That last game was a pretty good staple of our game,” Tkachuk said. “We dominated most if not all of it. That was probably one of my top games of the year personally as well. Hopefully we can just bring that into the next one.”
Step 2 is the Panthers continuing to build chemistry. Florida integrated four new forwards into their lineup — Rodrigues, Kevin Stenlund and Steven Lorentz along with a rotating fourth player (Mackie Samoskevich, Justin Sourdif and William Lockwood have held this role) — plus have four new defensemen.
“I think you’ll start to see guys fit into their spots and roles,” Tkachuk said. “It’s only been six games. The growing pains are there, but I’m pretty impressed with some of the new guys.”
The Panthers are also starting to get healthy to Tkachuk’s gain. Center Sam Bennett is a game-time decision to make his season debut on Saturday after missing the first six games of the season with a lower-body injury sustained last in the preseason.
Bennett returned to practice Thursday and took his spot centering Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. That line was a dominant one last season, outscoring opponents 23-12 in the regular season and 8-1 during Florida’s playoff run to the Stanley Cup Final. He was not on the ice for practice Friday but is expected to take part in morning skate on Saturday to determine his availability for the game against Seattle.
“He’s a huge part of our team,” Tkachuk said, “so it’ll be very important to get him back. I love playing with him so it’ll be good.”
▪ Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov missed a second consecutive practice while feeling “under the weather.” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Kulikov will be a game-time decision for Saturday, which opens the door for Mike Reilly to make his Panthers debut.
▪ Star center and captain Aleksander Barkov returned to practice Friday and is expected to play Saturday against Seattle after missing Tuesday’s game against San Jose with an illness.
▪ Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net Saturday.
This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 10:01 AM.
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