What the numbers say about Matthew Tkachuk’s first two weeks back with Panthers
It has been two weeks since star winger Matthew Tkachuk made his season debut with the Florida Panthers following a lengthy rehab and recovery period from offseason surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia.
And while the seven-game sample size has been par for the course as far as Florida’s overall record — the Panthers have gone 3-4 in those games and entered their Monday contest against the Buffalo Sabres eight points out of a Stanley Cup playoff spot — Tkachuk’s impact has been noticed.
Tkachuk looks like he hasn’t missed a beat despite missing the first 45 games of the season.
And with all the injuries still ailing the Panthers — the current number is seven key players absent from the lineup — they need all the help they can get.
Tkachuk, in that sense, has been a needed breath of fresh air.
“His ability to control the puck and hold guys off, almost like [Jaromir Jagr] back in the day,” Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “He controls the puck behind the net and in the neutral zone, makes plays into the middle of the ice that nobody can see, and scores some huge goals at huge times, and is also a very vocal leader in the dressing room. So awesome to have him back.”
The numbers speak for themselves.
Since Tkachuk’s return on Jan. 19, he has two goals and four assists for a team-leading six points over those first seven games.
Additionally, according to the advanced hockey statistics website Natural Stat Trick, Tkachuk is among the team leaders in a slew of key offensive categories. This includes...
- Total shots on goal (20, tied for second)
- Shot attempts (35, tied for second)
- Scoring chances (24, second)
- High-danger scoring chances (14, first)
- Expected goals for (3.08, first)
- Average ice time (18:43, seventh overall and third among forwards)
“That’s what he does,” Panthers forward Sam Reinhart after Florida’s 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, a game in which Tkachuk scored his first two goals of the season and added an assist. “He gets in around the net and makes things happen.”
They’ll need Tkachuk to keep making things happen — and hope it helps tilt results in the win column, too, as they try to remain in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
Injury updates
As for the Panthers’ other injuries, forwards Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell are once again out on Monday against Buffalo, with coach Paul Maurice still listing them as day-to-day.
This will be Lundell’s third consecutive game missed after leaving Florida’s loss to Utah on Tuesday with an upper-body injury. Marchand is out for his second consecutive game and ninth in 13 games with an undisclosed injury.
Lundell took part in Florida’s optional morning skate on Monday in a non-contact sweater, while Marchand was one of several key players who did not skate.
“It’s a starting point,” Maurice said of Lundell, who has 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 52 games.
Maurice said Marchand, who is tied for the team lead in assists (25) and is second on the team in goals (25) and points (50), could potentially return before the Olympic break — Florida plays at home against Boston on Wednesday and at Tampa Bay on Thursday before the NHL’s three-week hiatus — but likely won’t skate before he returns.
Meanwhile, fourth-line forward Jonah Gadjovich, who hasn’t played since Oct. 25 due to an undisclosed upper-body injury that required surgery, fully participated in morning skate and is cleared to take contact. The team still anticipates him returning some time after the break.
“This doesn’t change his return date,” Maurice said. “He can take bumping now. He’ll have a couple of medical appointments during the break that will tell us if he’s a potential player on the other side or just give us an idea how much longer it’s going to be on the other side of the break.”
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