Tkachuk happy to help Panthers grind out win in debut against Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Matthew Tkachuk is built to play in the playoff-style, tough, physical, low-scoring games that are won in the battle areas along the walls and the front of the net.

Maybe this season the Florida Panthers are too.
"That was a playoff-type win," Tkachuk told NHL.com after scoring a goal in his Panthers debut, a
3-1 victory against the New York Islanders
at UBS Arena on Thursday.
Perspective matters because it was the first of 82 regular-season games, but Tkachuk is right about how the Panthers got the win. They grinded it out, and it didn't resemble many of their NHL-best 58 wins from last season.
Florida won two games last season when it carried a 2-1 lead late into the third period as it did against the Islanders. Tkachuk's goal with 1:15 left made it 3-1. He scored it from 80 feet out into an empty net.
"I loved all of it," Panthers first-year coach Paul Maurice said.
Tkachuk's goal came on his fourth shot on goal and 16th shot attempt. His first two attempts, both on his first shift during a Panthers power play early in the first period, were between-the-leg shots from in front of the net that went wide.
He was feeling it from puck drop to final buzzer.
"Pucks were finding me early so it made it easier, but I'm surrounded by more talent than anybody could probably imagine," Tkachuk said.

This coming from a player who had 104 points last season with the Calgary Flames, playing on arguably the best line in the NHL with Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm. All three players scored 40 or more goals (Tkachuk and Lindholm 42 each, Gaudreau 40).
"Obviously, those guys are unbelievable, top players in the NHL," Tkachuk said of Gaudreau and Lindholm. "But I'm surrounded by some incredible players here just like last year."
Calgary traded Tkachuk, then a restricted free agent, to the Panthers on July 22 for forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.
It was the NHL's biggest trade of the offseason and a game changer for Tkachuk, who said he could feel as comfortable as he did in his Panthers debut because he has felt that way in Florida since arriving late in the offseason.
"The guys on the team are unbelievable guys, we've done so much already together on ice and off ice," Tkachuk said. "They've just made me feel at home, everybody, the whole organization, all the way from management down to players, coaches, trainers. I truly feel like I've played with these guys for 10 years. It's pretty unbelievable that's happened. This is the best decision for me. I can say that after a win or a loss, just how happy I am."
He was all smiles after this one, posing for pictures with center Aleksander Barkov, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and the puck he scored with in the dressing room after the game.
The Panthers were brimming with excitement too, some dancing to the music blaring in the room as reporters were allowed in, because they know they earned this win and that if they play more games like it in the regular season they'll have a better chance of finally winning in the Stanley Cup Playoffs too.
Florida was the NHL's highest-scoring team last season (4.10 goals per game), so good offensively that it got into the habit of outscoring its problems, which resulted in an NHL-best 29 comeback wins.
But the lack of structure and ability to win the type of game they played Thursday burned the Panthers in the playoffs, when they were held to two or fewer goals six times in 10 games, including all four games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Second Round.
They were 0-6 in those games, a Presidents' Trophy-winning team knocked out with three goals in the second-round sweep.
"The mindset is you've got to enjoy these kinds of games," Maurice said. "They're no fun in the regular season, especially if you're used to scoring five or six goals a night, but it looks exactly the way a playoff game is going to be. It's going to be a grinder. If you don't get the puck in deep, you're going to pay for it. All those hard things, that's the addition to our game. We think we can still be dynamic off the rush, but we've got learn how to handle this kind of game."
Not surprisingly, Maurice made playing with structure and learning how to win low-scoring games the main focal point throughout training camp and the preseason.
"That's all we talked about really," he said.
They were thrilled that their first game was on the road against the Islanders because they knew they were going to get a game that required structure.
"We framed the game in that way, that this is the best possible opponent for us because they're going to be as hard defensively as you're going to see in the NHL, and they're not going to give you anything, and you're going to get frustrated," Maurice said.
The Panthers instead got better as the game went along. They allowed 17 shots on goal in the final 40 minutes after yielding 16 in the first 20.
They scored in the second period to go up 1-0 on a high-low play that led to a deflection into the back of the net, the type of goal that Maurice said has to become a big part of their identity.
They didn't let the Islanders enjoy their game-tying goal, scoring 30 seconds later to take a 2-1 lead at 3:43 of the third.
Then the clamps went down, and Tkachuk delivered the late insurance.
"It's such a hard-earned win," Tkachuk said. "The first one is hard to win at the beginning of the year, the building is rocking, but I thought we played a very solid road game."