Matthew Tkachuk hadn’t gotten to feel this feeling in a while.
The Florida Panthers superstar hadn’t played in more than two months after dealing with a lower-body injury.
But on Tuesday night, he was back on the ice for the Panthers’ playoff opener against in-state rival Tampa Bay.
Tkachuk stole the show, scoring a pair of goals in the second period of a 6-2 victory.
If the Panthers are going to defend their Stanley Cup title, it’ll start with Tkachuk, and he looked as good as new.
“That’s what he is for us,” Florida coach Paul Maurice told ESPN. “He’s got an incredible set of hands, got an incredible gift for the emotional needs of a game, when you need a hit, when you need a big play. He’s been great for us.”
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The Lightning were dealt a huge blow, too, playing the last 33:30 without center Anthony Cirelli for an undisclosed reason.
Tkachuk’s status wasn’t much clearer until Tuesday. He had gone through Saturday and Monday practices but was truly questionable until taking part in the day-of-game skate on Tuesday.
The last time Tkachuk played for the Panthers was Feb. 8 due to his injury sustained in the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament.
That amounted to a 25-game absence.
Tkachuk got to play with trade deadline acquisition Brad Marchand for the first time, too. Marchand had an assist in the Florida victory.
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