Paul Maurice’s teeth are probably ground down to a fine powder, given everything that is riding on Tuesday’s game and the morning practice beforehand. The NHL seemed to have considered Matthew Tkachuk’s injury status when scheduling Florida’s games for a later start, but this doesn’t assure anyone anything. While the hope is that Tkachuk makes the game, the chances that he doesn’t are also still very real and are something that Paul Maurice addressed in a practice interview building up to the game.

When the interviewer asked Maurice what the likelihood of Matthew Tkachuk making an appearance at Tuesday’s game is, Maurice stayed composed and practical through his answer, “He’s got to get through the morning skate tomorrow (Tuesday),” he said, adding, “We’re still monitoring the recovery of the practice. So he was up early when he went through a whole practice, stayed till the end. So, we’ll see how he feels coming back in tomorrow and if he feels good, then he gets through that morning skate and everybody thumbs up then he’ll go.” Maurice’s stoic tone didn’t really give anything away, but keeping things realistic the day prior to the big one is probably a good tactic when competing in the playoffs. The tension is palpable, though, not knowing whether your star player can make it to a game till the morning of? Ooph!

The interviewer prodded on, saying that since it currently looks like Tkachuk is expected to be in the second line and the first power play unit, was Maurice expecting to get the doctor’s clearance before the game? Again, Maurice kept his composure without letting any excitement slip one way or another, truly keeping the fans on their toes. “Yeah, well…if you go back and look at the last five games, at a different time I’ve run versions of all these lines with the idea that Matthew doesn’t play. I know exactly who’s going into that hole; we’ve already run that before and the lines that it changes beneath will look exactly like a line that we played in a game that we’ve liked, so we’ve got a flowchart for how I’ll handle this.” Maurice said, indicating his playing out of every possible scenario and preparation for the worst. Because it would be the worst, right, not to have the Panthers’ playoff poster boy back in action for their series this year?

Why Matthew Tkachuk is such an asset to the Florida Panthers during playoffs: His track record in the 2023 playoffs

Matthew Tkachuk not only played a pivotal role in getting the Panthers their Stanley Cup in 2024 but also made some super memorable impacts leading to their finals appearance in 2023. When asked about Tkachuk’s performance in 2023 despite their eventual loss to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, Paul Maurice reminisced on two legendary moments.

One of these was the famous Game 5 swipe in the series against the Oilers, where Tkachuk literally swiped the opposition’s puck away from the goal line. But it’s the other, less remembered moment that Maurice holds in the highest regard.

It was game 2 of the 2023 playoffs against the Oilers, and there were 6 minutes remaining on the clock, with 2 goals to the Panthers. Tkachuk managed to disrupt Connor McDavid’s clean shot against Sergei Bobrovsky, stopping him from scoring. “How would you not show that 5,000 times? I did. That’s training camp video.” Maurice said of the play.

And Tkachuk’s heroic antics continued till the very end of that series, when he literally could no longer stay on the ice as he broke his sternum after a hit from Keegan Kolesar of the Golden Knights in game 3 of the finals. Tkachuk reappeared for game 4 but played sparingly. When game 5 finally came around, he was out, and so were the Panthers. So, when Maurice says he’s got a flowchart, one can only hope it will bring the Panthers half as much gusto as Tkachuk did in 2023.

Or better yet, one can pin all their hopes on that crucial morning practice!