Tkachuk’s scoring drought is over, but his value to the Panthers goes beyond goals
Matthew Tkachuk knew it had been awhile since he scored a goal.
He also didn’t care how long it had been.
Before he scored midway through the first period of the Florida Panthers’ eventual 5-0 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final, the star winger had gone 10 consecutive games in these Stanley Cup playoffs without a goal — a number that caught captain Aleksander Barkov and coach Paul Maurice by surprise.
But there was another number that meant a lot more to Tkachuk postgame, one that speaks to the mind-set of the Panthers as a whole as they move closer to a third consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.
“We’re up two games to zero,” Tkachuk said. “I do not care how we get there. If it goes in, it goes in. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’ve never cared. Sometimes it’s nice to see it go in, but it is what it is. I’m not [Alex] Ovechkin. They are not always going to go in, but when they do, they feel nice.”
The pucks haven’t been going in most of his postseason for Tkachuk, who missed two-and-a-half months after sustaining a lower-body injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off in mid-February. He scored three goals in the Panthers’ first three games — two on the power play in Game 1 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning and a third in Game 3 of that series.
The 10 games after that? Zero goals on 11 shots on goal and 39 total shot attempts although he did have six assists in that span.
But scoring goals is only one element of Tkachuk’s game. He’s a game-changer with his peskiness. He can impact a game and a series with his physicality just as much as he can with his offense.
“He’s able to be an agitator without taking penalties,” forward A.J. Greer said. “That’s huge for us. A skilled guy who can play in all different types of games.”
Added Barkov: “He always plays well. He’s a one-of-a-kind player and we’re lucky to have him on our side. He does it all for us. He’s huge for us.”
And Sam Bennett, who centers the second line with Tkachuk on one of his wings: “He’s a guy that doesn’t need to score to be effective. He’s doing everything on the ice for this team, and when he scores, it’s just an added bonus.”
It certainly was a bonus on Thursday. Tkachuk’s goal, which came on a feed from Carter Verhaeghe as they crashed the net, put Florida up 2-0 early as part of a three-goal first period.
The line of Verhaeghe, Bennett and Tkachuk was extremely effective overall in Game 2 against the Hurricanes. The Panthers scored three goals at even strength with those three on the ice, while generating six high-danger chances and holding the Hurricanes without a high-danger chance of their own.
“I thought you saw a really veteran game out of those guys,” Maurice said. “A lot of what we gave up in Game 1 [a 5-2 Florida win], they were on the ice. They gave up an awful lot on the rush, mostly out of aggressiveness and trying almost too hard. They settled their game a bit and let the forechecker be aggressive and read off each other. They were almost a little more relaxed. They were going, so it felt like they had pressure, but they actually played a little bit more patient game. They were very, very good.”
The Panthers were good as a whole. They held the Hurricanes, a team known for generating a high volume of shot attempts, to just 17 shots on goal — their lowest total in any game since Oct. 23, 2014 (a regular season game at Calgary), and the lowest single-game total in the playoffs since June 17, 2006 (Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final vs Edmonton).
They set the tone early not only by staking themselves to a 3-0 lead but by holding Carolina to just three total shots on goal.
“It was an unreal start for us,” Tkachuk said. “Now the goals aside, just the way we played in the first period was as good as it gets.”
Their balance was on display. Five players had multipoint outings. Defenseman Gustav Forsling became the 18th overall player and seventh defenseman to score for the Panthers this postseason. Florida has eight players with at least 10 points through 14 playoff games.
It’s a reason why the Panthers are able to not just survive but have the ability to thrive when a top player isn’t consistently finding the back of the net.
“I don’t care who scores,” Maurice said. “I really don’t.”
Nor do the Panthers. Being on the right side of the final score is all that matters, and Florida is succeeding on that front.
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