FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk did not practice Sunday but will be in the lineup for the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Monday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN).
The 27-year-old forward missed the final 25 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury sustained during the 4 Nations Face-Off in February while playing for the United States. He returned to Florida’s lineup April 22 for Game 1 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, when he had two goals and an assist in a 6-2 win.
But Tkachuk was not on the ice Sunday, one day after he worked on a separate ice sheet with skills coach Maxim Ivanov before joining his teammates to work on the power play.
“That’s all by design,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He had a heavy day [Saturday] in getting some of that conditioning and strength back. He is going to be in an every-second-day rotation now as we will be starting tomorrow.”
On Saturday, Maurice said he stopped limiting Tkachuk’s time on ice during the final three games of the best-of-7 series against the Lightning, won by the Panthers in five games.
Tkachuk, who averaged 18:14 of ice time in 52 regular-season games, averaged 13:42 in the first round. He had five points (three goals, two assists) in five games after he had 57 points (22 goals, 35 assists) during the regular season.
This weekend, rookie forward Mackie Samoskevich replaced Tkachuk at right wing on Florida’s second line with center Anton Lundell and Evan Rodrigues on the left. Jesper Boqvist replaced Tkachuk for power-play work Sunday.
“It would be critical for any team to have their best players available,” Maurice said Saturday. “The first two games of the series were really the only ones where I was a little bit careful with [Tkachuk’s] minutes. I really don’t think about it behind the bench now.
“Having everyone healthy is highly unusual, and not to be expected. We just kind of roll with it.”
