SUNRISE, Fla. — Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk had to be helped off the ice and taken to the locker room in the first period after a collision with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov during Monday night’s 4-0 loss.
Tkachuk returned in the second period and received a standing ovation. He joined the Panthers’ power-play unit in his first shift back.
“We wouldn’t let him back in the game if we didn’t think he was OK,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said in his in-game interview on Scripps Sports. “But he’s tough.”
Kucherov crashed full speed into Tkachuk’s right leg late in the first period, causing Tkachuk to fall and grab his knee. He remained down for a couple of minutes until a team trainer helped him off. He didn’t appear to put any weight on the leg.
After the teams exchanged words following the hit, Kucherov was assessed a five-minute major penalty. Ultimately, after an officials’ review, a game misconduct was issued for the infraction.
“It’s tough, you can agree or disagree with the call. A five-minute major and missing a game, that’s a big price to pay,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “I’m sure [the Panthers] looked at it and said it was warranted, and we looked at it and say, ‘Come on now.'”
There were several runs-ins between the two teams, even before Kucherov’s hit. In the end, Tampa Bay finished with 37 minutes in penalties, compared to Florida’s 24.
“These are two teams that battle it out. If you include playoffs and regular season and preseason, we’ve played them probably more than double any other team,” Cooper said. “They are cross-state rivals. And the last five Stanley Cups have been with these two teams in them. And anytime you get them together, it’s pretty entertaining.”
Tkachuk, in his third season with the club, is second on the team with 13 goals and 22 assists in 31 games this season.
“Matthew has a great emotional feel for the game,” Maurice said after the loss. “He just knew that we needed him back. He wasn’t at 100 percent, obviously. He tried to figure out a way tonight, and we appreciate that about him.”
The Lightning led Florida 3-0 at the end of the first period thanks to goals by Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Mitchell Chaffee. It was the second game of a back-to-back set for the two rivals, as the Panthers defeated the host Lightning 4-2 on Sunday night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
