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Just like they did a year ago, the Florida Panthers have stolen back home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference Final after winning Game 1 on the road. It didn’t take four overtimes this time around, and Matthew Tkachuk’s team will be happy to escape with an important 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers in the opener of their third-round series at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
The Cats stifled the Blueshirts from start to finish, never letting the crowd get into it and riding another phenomenal postseason performance from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
But Tkachuk was the hero on this night, scoring the game-winning goal around midway through the opening stanza and adding an assist in the triumph. The American knows his team — which is fresh off a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 — can be even better.
“All in all happy with how it went, but there are a lot of things that we can get better at,” Tkachuk reflected after the triumph, according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. “But I never complain after a win, especially in playoffs. So on to Game 2.”
He added: “I don’t put any pressure on myself to score or produce offense. It’s not about myself here. There’s a way bigger goal ahead. Guys on our team that didn’t score tonight were some of our best players. There’s so much buy-in from everybody that nobody cares who’s producing, who’s doing whatever, who’s doing the hitting. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re here for wins. That’s it.”
Spoken like a true leader, and Tkachuk has been doing his fair share of talking on the ice. Besides the crucial Game 1 GWG, Tkachuk also hammered Rangers forward Vincent Trocheck not once but twice in the same frame, setting the tone early on.
“He’s a leader. A true leader of this team,” explained Panthers captain and Selke Trophy winner Sasha Barkov. “Today was a good example of that: He set the tone physically, made some plays and did whatever he does at his best. And we follow his lead.”
Tkachuk added an assist on Sam Bennett’s empty-net goal late in the third, giving him five goals and 16 points in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games. And his fantastic play helped the Panthers steal home-ice advantage back ahead of Game 2 on Friday night.
Home-ice advantage back with Panthers
The Rangers got to the East Final in 2022, but were beaten by a superior Tampa Bay Lightning team. Two years later, could it be another Florida franchise that spells the end for the Stanley Cup hopefuls?
It will be if Tkachuk has anything to say about it, as he continues to lead his team to playoff success.
“I would never bet against him coming up with some heroics,” head coach Paul Maurice said of his best player. “The players have kind of come to expect it. So it’s not necessarily a huge boost in that, ‘Oh my god, Matthew scored a goal.’ But for him, that just gets him cooking.
“What he did tonight is he righted our team back to the simple parts of our game. These are the best players in the world and they’re capable of doing more. But sometimes less is just way better, and it’s also quite a bit smarter. And I thought he led in that department.”
Tkachuk will continue to lead the way for the Panthers as they look to make it back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances. For the President’s Trophy winning Rangers, capturing Game 2 will be key to getting back in the series before it shifts to Amerant Bank Arena.
Either that, or Florida could make this a quick ECF, just as they did in a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes last May.
More must-reads:
- Oilers crush Panthers in Game 4, stay alive in Stanley Cup Final
- Connor McDavid's history-making night helps Oilers stave off elimination
- Can you name every NHL player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy?
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