(Fort Lauderdale) Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk’s key offensive stats have all declined this season. Goals: Down. Help mentions: decreasing. Points: Down. Shot success percentage: decreasing.
On paper, it doesn’t sound impressive. On the ice, the Florida team’s management sees things very differently.
“You just have to look at different stats,” points out Panthers head coach Paul Maurice.
Maurice focuses on one statistic in particular: 92 points in the standings for the Panthers last year, 110 points this season. In both cases, the Panthers ended up in the same place –– the Stanley Cup Finals – but there is no doubt that this edition of the Panthers was better, over the entire 82-game schedule , than last year’s training.
And in a locker room full of leaders, there is no doubt that Tkachuk stands out from the group. He helped the Panthers become significantly better from start to finish, and at both ends of the ice.
This is what excites Maurice, when it comes to Tkachuk’s season, and without being obsessed with fewer goals, as we approach the first game of the final series against the Oilers. Edmonton, Saturday evening.
“He’s a leader in this locker room, and so he has a major impact on the culture and the look of our team,” Maurice said.
“Where his growth is by far the greatest […] is in the level of discipline in his game. He no longer spends his time in the penalty box. I would say that during the month of November until January last year, that was the case. He was the Tasmanian devil on the ice,” he continued.
Including the playoffs, Tkachuk finished his first campaign in Florida with 133 points and 197 penalty minutes, making him only the second player in NHL history to accumulate that many points and penalty minutes in the same season. season. In 1991-92, Kevin Stevens had 151 points and 282 penalty minutes with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Tkachuk’s stats so far this year: 107 points, 107 penalty minutes. No other player in the league has crossed the hundred mark in each of the two categories, and he therefore stands out in this regard. However, it is clear that he has shown himself to be much more disciplined, or at least more judicious about when he can afford to go to the dungeon.
An example ? When Tkachuk and Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak decided to drop the gloves in Game 2 of this playoff series, in a rare moment where two big stars exchange punches.
“Two guys wanted to fight and I think ours had the upper hand on this occasion,” Maurice said. So, I thought it was good, and I didn’t think about it again. »
Tkachuk’s evolution is evident, both on and off the ice. He’s only 26, but he’s finishing his eighth year in the NHL. He got engaged a few months ago. He will participate in the final series for a second year in a row. The Panthers were crushed by the Vegas Golden Knights last year in part because several key players, including Tkachuk, were dealing with serious injuries.
He played part of the series despite a broken sternum, a condition so painful that teammates had to help him put on his pads, pull on his jersey and tie his skates. Tkachuk sat out Game 5, which Vegas won in a one-sided series.
“Obviously getting injured in the third game was not part of the plan,” Tkachuk said.
“I felt like if I had been healthier, maybe it could have changed things a little bit, and the show. But ultimately, I had no control over what happened. It occupied my thoughts a little as we started the summer.
“In reality, I had to work […] as hard as possible to get healthy, to feel good again and, ultimately, to work as hard as possible to give myself another opportunity (to go to the final). And there we have another opportunity,” Tkachuk added.
This other opportunity will begin Saturday, at home, against the Oilers.
And this meeting adds a layer of intrigue to everything surrounding Tkachuk in this series, given the fact that he spent his first six NHL campaigns with the Calgary Flames, the Oilers’ arch-rivals.
To say the least, Edmonton hockey fans are not Tkachuk fans. And it’s a mutual feeling.
A respect exists between the two parties, at least from Tkachuk’s perspective. But a warm ovation will not await him in the third and fourth games, when the series moves to Alberta.
“Obviously it’s a lot bigger than that,” Tkachuk said. But I’m very comfortable playing these matches against them. It’s been a big rivalry since I was 18. I know the passion and I know this rink, I know this city, I’ve been there, I’ve played a lot of games there. I should feel very comfortable going back there. They’re not very into me. I will try to take advantage of it. »