Panthers-Senators was exactly the jolt of excitement the NHL needed

The Senators even gave him a tribute video, probably on principle, just because he was a former team captain. Tkachuk, however, played the heel role well, taking a victory lap afterwards while soaking in the boos from the Ottawa faithful.

Whether he knew he was playing a role, doesn’t care about Ottawa anymore now that he got his way or a combination of the two, it was appointment television regardless and a precursor of what was to come on Wednesday.

Wednesday's game was reflective of a classic wrestling match

Much like a well-paced match, the heel struck first as Tkachuk netted a power-play goal to the dismay of the fans, putting Florida up 1-0 midway through the first period, but, like a well-paced match, it was just to set up the eventual comeback and win for the “good guy.”

The Ottawa faithful came to play, though, and made sure to let the “bad guy” hear it throughout the night, chanting many memes (“You can’t read!” and “You eat crayons!”) and other vulgar chants that can’t be published.

Even though Tkachuk scored, the Sens got the last laugh, winning 5-1 and moving past Florida into third in the Atlantic Division. All that was missing was Stone Cold Steve Austin marching onto the ice himself to deliver a stunner to Tkachuk to send the fans home even happier than they already were.

Tkachuk even finished with egg on his face, finishing at a -2 despite scoring the Panthers’ lone goal.

While the season is still young, this has made the remaining three regular season games between the two teams must-see, and it gives Florida fans about a month to prepare their — the teams play in Sunrise on Nov. 25 and Jan. 18 and return to Ottawa on March 18.

The NHL should be loving this sudden dynamic and now have a new rivalry to build around this season and should take every opportunity to market and promote the remaining games and make sure it gets national coverage.

While the politics and details behind the situation are unfortunate, it does create good business, and it's business the league needs to pounce on, and hope extends into a meeting in the playoffs come April.