Tkachuk felt 'back to normal' for Panthers in season debut

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The last time Matthew Tkachuk took the ice in an NHL game, the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup, with Tkachuk scoring the game-winner and gloves flying up in the air and the night ending in a bath of Champagne.

Since then, the Panthers had played 47 games to start the 2025-26 NHL season.

Tkachuk had played none, a result of his Aug. 22, 2025, surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia.

But the firebrand forward returned to the ice on Monday against the San Jose Sharks, playing 20:58 in his first action in seven months as the Panthers lost 4-1. Tkachuk had three shots on goal, one hit, one blocked shot and was assessed a roughing penalty for an interaction with Vincent Desharnais at 8:41 of the first, on which the Sharks defenseman earned two minors.

“Personally, I will say it was such a relief and nice to be out there,” said Tkachuk, who was planning to finish his night up the road at Hard Rock Stadium where the University of Miami and Indiana University were battling for the College Football Playoff National Championship.

“Felt better as it went along. First period was weird, I will say. It was a little strange. Just nothing, nothing mimics a game. It was weird, but the second period felt a little bit better and then the third kind of felt pretty much back to normal.”

It was a good sign.

It was also why Tkachuk had waited so long to return, hoping that normalcy would prevail, that he would not have to worry about his health or his conditioning or, truly, anything beyond helping the Panthers move up in the standings.

Because, while the Panthers were full of relief to have Tkachuk back on the ice, there remain worries amongst the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, worries that Tkachuk shares, worries that he hopes to help alleviate.

“Let’s be honest, we’re not in a good spot right now, at all, in the standings,” Tkachuk said.

Asked what kind of responsibility he feels to change that, he said, “A lot.”

“I can’t afford to come back and just feel my way into it, and hopefully after five games feel back ready and helping,” he said. “It’s got to happen right away. We’re chasing too many teams. We’re too many points out. It’s hard to chase.

“Unfortunately we’re at that point where we’re scoreboard watching. But we have enough games to take care of our own business, but it’s got to start now. You don’t want to be chasing after the Olympic break and into the Trade Deadline. It’s too challenging. Got to get some points now. All these teams around us are going on runs. It’s up to us to do the same.”

The Panthers (53 points) sit four points out of the second wild card from the Eastern Conference, with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals all ahead of them in the chase. They are nearly as close to the New York Rangers, who are last in the East with 48 points, as they are to the Buffalo Sabres (57), who currently have the second wild card.

But they have Tkachuk back. That matters.

“It’s great,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “You see some of the plays he makes, he’s incredible. Awesome player. Brings a lot of fire to the game and drags everyone with him into the fight. So that’s a huge addition back to our team.”

Perhaps that fire rubbed off.

It was at 6:00 into the third period that goalie Sergei Bobrovsky raced across the ice to join a scrum that already featured Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, the two earning penalties for leaving the crease and fighting majors, the latter the first of Bobrovsky’s 16-season NHL career.

Bobrovsky later earned one of the biggest ovations -- non-Stanley Cup edition -- the Panthers have heard, as he returned to the ice to finish the game.

So, yes, perhaps Tkachuk’s return impacted them all.

“I thought he was pretty good,” coach Paul Maurice said. “His hand skills are just – he knocked some things down. … Played him a lot in the back half of that game. So yeah, we need him completing some of those plays that he made. We just couldn’t do much with it around it.”

As for the forward, he got as much out of the game as he had wanted to, with the exception of two points.

He had waited until he was 100 percent, something that wasn’t possible the last time he returned after a lengthy injury absence. That was for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round last season, on April 22, having been out since the Feb. 20 final of the 4 Nations Face-Off. He wasn’t going to come back early again.

But he wouldn’t be fully sure of himself until he took his first hit. That happened early and often, including a wallop by Desharnais at 17:22 of the first period.

“There were a couple, a couple scrums early, a couple hits,” Tkachuk said. “It’s what you need. You almost need that as like a last check it off that you’re good to go. I said it and I guess I had it coming.”

It had been almost a year since he had felt this healthy, back before the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“We’re not worried about him,” Maurice said. “We’re not. He’s gotten to a point that anything that happens going forward is going to be based on whatever happens going forward. He’s not carrying this injury into the rest of the season.”

Which is good. Because they’ll need him.

There is a long road ahead for the defending champions if they want a chance to defend once again.

“This is our challenge that we’re dealing with and we’re going to deal with it straight through to the rest of the year,” Maurice said. “Guys that come in will have to make an impact right away because we’re going to be chasing this thing right to the end.”