As preparation begins for Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final. One of the big storylines heading into not only the game and the Stanley Cup Playoffs was the health of Matthew Tkachuk.
On the off day, before the morning skate of Game 6, Tkachuk spoke to the media about how the Florida Panthers were handling elimination games and their mindset as they look to win their second straight Stanley Cup. Tkachuk knows the fourth win is the toughest to get, but the big news coming out of that availability was how open and honest he was about the injury he has been dealing with since Four Nations.
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Remember, Tkacuk was injured playing for Team USA at the Four Nations Faceoff. Whether he got hurt during the Team Canada-USA game, which featured three fights in nine seconds, is up for debate. However, Tkachuk didn’t finish the first game against Canada and played only briefly in the final, which Team USA lost in overtime.
And that injury held him out of the rest of the regular season as Panthers GM Bill Zito put him on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). All the team was going to say was that his injury was in his lower body. However, no one knew that it could have kept him out of the playoffs, as most expected him to be back for the playoffs. But as Tkachuk revealed, it was 50/50, and he didn’t know until Game 1 of Round 1 that he would be playing for the Panthers against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Yeah, I didn’t know if I was going to come back at the start and kind of found out the day before I was gonna have a chance to play, Tkachuk said. “Honestly decided, like, even though I wasn’t, you know, the first round was definitely the worst I felt, by far, and just knowing that I was going gonna be knowing other than this round, that was our toughest round, playing Tampa. So I knew that even at nowhere close to what I expected myself, I knew I needed to help out as best I can, but to get by them. So was proud of myself and happy for playing that round, and had some ups and downs throughout the playoffs, and now I’m feeling the best I felt.
So personally, I’m very happy with where the health is and everything. Just very lucky that I’m able to be playing. I did not think I was going to be playing. I shouldn’t say that. I thought there was going to be a 50% chance I wouldn’t be playing as close to a week or five days before the playoffs. So very lucky and fortunate that I’ve got great trainers and doctors and they’ll somehow got me healthy enough to play.
The fact that Tkachuk is making an impact for the Panthers in this series is pretty remarkable. In 22 games in the playoffs with the Panthers, he has recorded 22 points (seven goals and 15 assists). With the injury he is dealing with, he is averaging a point per game. In the Stanley Cup Final, through five games, he has six points (two goals and four assists). Not to mention, he has points in six of his past seven games dating back to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
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So as the playoffs have gone on, he has played better, as head coach Paul Maurice said during his press availability on Monday.
I think the last three games he’s played have been the best of the playoffs by far. He got back to a block where he was probably in the Toronto series, late Toronto, early Carolina, that he came to full health. But there’s still the mental part of what about what you can do. How far do you want to stress that? Taking hits, giving hits, and things like that, and then as this series, he’s got to full, full health. And when that happens, you’ve seen that line then become a very good line on both sides of the puck. They were producing great numbers at the start, but loose isn’t the right word, but they weren’t able to defend as well as they could.
Matthew Tkachuk has played through injuries. Just go back to the 2023 run the Florida Panthers went on. He played the final series with a broken collarbone and sternum. And remember Game 4 of that series? He had the team’s three best scoring chances, but was unable to capitalize and almost tied that game late against Vegas.
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It is no surprise to see Matthew Tkachuk out there in this series and improving. While he is back to “full” health and producing, there are still elements of his game that are not 100 percent. But he doesn’t have to be the way Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett are producing.
Expect him to leave it all out on the ice in Game 6, as most hockey players do. However, this was the most insightful any player has been about an injury during the playoffs without revealing the nature of the injury.
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