Tkachuk 'feeling physically great,' leading Panthers into Game 5 showdown vs. Maple Leafs

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The image was pure Matthew Tkachuk.

At the end of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, after Max Domi had boarded Aleksander Barkov -- which would later result in a $5,000 fine by the NHL Department of Player Safety -- Tkachuk leaned over the boards and pointed with his stick at the Maple Leafs bench.

It was aggressive, challenging, protective over his teammates and perhaps right up to or past the line. It was exactly the way the public thinks of Tkachuk, a controversial, lovable, hateable leader, an in-your-face forward who has spent the past two years leading the Panthers to back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final -- and one win -- and making himself the face of hockey in the United States.

"He works on his craft," said Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who played with Tkachuk for the Calgary Flames in the 2021-22 season. "The whole thing of the aura of Matthew Tkachuk, like playing the game within the game, trying to get in your head, like he would do something to spark everybody, take it upon himself to do that kind of stuff.

"He's a really good competitor. He really is."

But that's not the image Gudbranson thinks of when he thinks of Tkachuk.

After the 2021-22 season, each moved on, Gudbranson to the Blue Jackets and Tkachuk to the Panthers. When the Panthers came into Columbus that season, Tkachuk texted his old teammate, asking him if he wanted to get dinner.

It was Gudbranson's son's Benny's second birthday party that day.

"I said we're having some of the boys over at like 4 o'clock," Gudbranson recalled recently, of his response to Tkachuk. "He goes, 'I'll be there.' Sure enough, he went to like a Target or something like that, went and bought my little guy a gift, and showed up to the door and was so pumped to see him.

"Him and Benny got along really well when we were out in Calgary, loved being around him, so yeah, just kind of dropped everything and came out to my little guy's birthday party."

It's something that made an impact, the time he took to find a store and find a gift, on an afternoon in a road city.

"I mean, the kid was 2," Gudbranson said. "Spent his afternoon going to get a gift for my little guy and showing up. I won't forget that, for sure."

It's, perhaps, emblematic of the ways Tkachuk shows up for his teammates -- current and former -- again and again, as he has helped the Panthers even the best-of-7 series against the Maple Leafs with Game 5 on Wednesday in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN).

Even if it doesn't always take the form that it has in the past, Tkachuk is once more at it in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The forward had 57 points (22 goals, 35 assists) during the regular season but was limited to 52 games; he missed the final 25 games of the regular season after being injured Feb. 15 while playing for the U.S. against Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off. He entered the postseason not having played since Feb. 20, the championship game between the same two countries, when he managed just 6:47 of ice time.

He came back with a bang, getting two goals and an assist against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 22 in Game 1 of the first round, despite playing only 11:43. The Panthers continued to ease him in as the playoffs went along, as they beat the Lightning in five games.

His ice time gradually increased, with Tkachuk managing 21:30 in Game 3 of the second round against the Maple Leafs, which went to overtime. His numbers overall have been down, with eight points (three goals, five assists) in nine playoff games this season, but the Panthers see improvement ahead.

"I think his game last game was his best," Florida coach Paul Maurice said Monday. "I think his last three games that he's played have been the best that he's played in the playoffs. I think he has an incredible ability to adapt his game, and I think he was doing that in the Tampa series, almost straight through the Tampa series. But he is back.

"I didn't see him adapting his game [in Game 4]. The glimpses from the bench where he'll move differently or release a puck early or do something or give himself another foot of ice just to cover off a change in direction, something like that, I didn't see any of that last night."

Tkachuk agreed.

"I'm feeling physically great," Tkachuk said before Game 4. "I'm very happy to be out there. It was a long time off. I'm just happy to be out there with the guys. There's nothing better."

Though the production might not be where he'd like, might not be entirely optimal for the Panthers, one of Tkachuk's best traits is how little that fazes him. He remains utterly sure of himself, whether he's scoring or not, whether he's healthy or not.

He knows he can change a game in many ways.

"If you're down, if you need a scrap, you know who to look for," said Detroit Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot, who played with Tkachuk on the Flames in 2019-20. "If it's setting the tone early, you need a scrap, you know who to look for. You need a big hit or a big goal or a big play, [the Tkachuks] always seem to come up in those big moments."

The Panthers were looking vulnerable earlier in the series, down 0-2 to the Maple Leafs, giving up too many goals and not playing their brand of hockey. That flipped with a Brad Marchand overtime goal in Game 3 and a pure Panthers win in Game 4.

Suddenly it isn't looking so far-fetched for the Panthers to make a third straight Cup Final, as the series comes down to a best-of-3.

And that is where Tkachuk thrives. It's where he knows he can make a difference, in whatever way he's able, in whatever way he can.

"Matthew is confident as confident can be and I mean that in a great way," his father, former NHL player Keith Tkachuk, said. "People might look at it as cocky, but Matthew feels comfortable in those situations. Matthew can go six games without scoring, that is not going to affect him one way or the other. He believes in himself."

And the Panthers believe along with him.

"I think Matthew is one of the heart-and-soul guys on this team," said defenseman Seth Jones, who was traded to the Panthers on March 1. "When I got here he wasn't playing, he was just rehabbing, trying to get better. … When he came back, you can see how vocal he is in the locker room, his leadership that he brings, the energy that he brings in our room, whether it's before the game, intermission, during the game. And then the style of play -- he's a physical guy, but he's got great hands around the net, he helps our power play tremendously down low around the net.

"He just brings a certain X factor to our team, a certain swagger to our team, that I think is extremely helpful. Especially in playoff hockey."

NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika contributed to this report.