While the Florida Panthers were out there throwing a mini victory party on ice, the poor Hurricanes just skated away with an “L” and some heavy hearts. Yep, Matthew Tkachuk and his squad punched their ticket once again to the Stanley Cup Final, and honestly? It felt more like clocking in for a Tuesday shift than a confetti moment. As the final horn echoed through the arena, the Cats casually hopped over the boards and made their way over to Sergei Bobrovsky with mellow high-fives and just enough hype to say, ‘Yeah, we did that.’ No wild stick tosses. No dramatic hugs. Just cool, calm, and ready for more chaos.

“I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” said Tkachuk, ice still melting off his skates. “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” And yeah, that mindset showed. The Panthers sealed the deal in Game 5 with a 5–3 win, closing out Carolina for the second time in three seasons. Carter Verhaeghe came in clutch, breaking a tie thanks to a slick dish from Aleksander Barkov with just under eight minutes left. Now it’s all eyes on the West; will it be Dallas or Edmonton? (the Oilers are sitting pretty at 3–1.) And now, Matthew Tkachuk is brushing off the Hurricanes’ costly blunder as the Panthers glide into the Stanley Cup Final.

When NHLonTNT rolled out that postgame chat, Paul Bissonnette hit Matthew Tkachuk with a straight-up thoughtful breakdown: “I felt like in the first three games of this series, you guys really took control, but I also felt like Carolina looked like a different team in games four and five…” And right there, he dropped the big one: “All of a sudden something just clicks.” Chucky, cool as ever, leaned into the mic like he had all the time in the world and said, “I think we did not play very good in the first period, but it wasn’t as bad as it probably looked.” He wasn’t buying the whole ‘Carolina domination’ narrative. “The crowd is pretty loud here… anytime they touch the puck and cross the zone, they’re going crazy. It might look like they’re dominating us, but they really weren’t.”

And then, just like a plot twist in a playoff drama, he explained the vibe shift. “All it takes is one, I think in the second you get feeling good. The building gets a little quieter. They look a little nervous after that one goes in and we’re able to score right away, so now it’s a new game 2-2.” The Canes went into the second period with a comfortable 2-0 lead. But that lead didn’t make it past the first eight minutes of the second period as Tkachuk tipped in a shot from Aaron Ekblad to open the scoring for the Panthers. 30 seconds later, Evan Rodrigues evened things out. For analysts like Elliotte Friedman and Kelly Hrudey, that comeback was the result of the reckless challenge by the Canes’ Kasperi Kotkaniemi. After all, it was on the power play following that challenge that Matthew Tkachuk scored the all-important opener for the Panthers. Tkachuk, himself, however, didn’t even care to mention that during his chat with Bissonnette.

But credit where it’s due; Tkachuk tipped his hat and said, “They were really hard to play against, did not give us anything, made us earn every single inch of the ice and we did not get much that game.” Still, even in the face of that grind, Chucky wrapped it up with some Florida Panthers gospel: “Sometimes when it’s not going our way, just get back to the basics. The simpler we play, the more success we have.” A mic drop without dropping the mic.

Game 4 had a sneaky MVP on Carolina’s side, and Chucky didn’t hesitate to name-drop him. Just hours before the Panthers hit the Lenovo Center for Game 5, team reporter Jameson Olive dropped a spicy tweet quoting Tkachuk. “Tkachuk on Slavin, who played 28 minutes in Game 4: ‘We’ve got to make it harder on him if he’s going to play that much. He’s been incredible, not only this round but all year. … Definitely a guy we’ve got to key on and a very tough player to play against.’” Yeah, that’s some real hockey respect right there.

And he wasn’t just blowing steam. Slavin straight-up made life miserable for the Cats in that one. Carolina had a 23-12 shot-attempt edge while he was out there, kept Florida scoreless, and according to The Athletic’s brainy stats, they allowed just 0.18 expected goals when he was doing his D-zone wizardry. But here’s where it gets even juicier; Chucky also peeled back the curtain on what’s fueling his own playoff fire, and yep, it’s coming from right inside that Panthers locker room.

Matthew Tkachuk makes an honest confession about the locker room!

“I hated Matthew Tkachuk—that’s a little too strong—when I was in Winnipeg. Then you meet him, and you’re like ‘what a wonderful human being,'” said Paul Maurice on Sunday. But he also acknowledged that Tkachuk and the rest of the Panthers are completely different once they enter the rink.“They are hard on the ice, they are. But that’s driven by how they feel about each other.” That was exactly the sentiment that drove Tkachuk as he continued to push and shove the Canes’ Sebastian Aho before finally taking the forward down on the ice for a full-fledged brawl. He did not do that to show Aho who’s boss. It was redemption for the hit that had forced Sam Reinhart to leave the ice in Game 2.

In the press conference ahead of Game 5, Chucky spilled it out. “Our team will stick up for each other, and we’ve got a great bond in that room. We’ve gone through so much this year and years prior to that, you know? We’ve become a family,” he shared. It’s that ride-or-die mentality, the kind that doesn’t crumble when the heat’s on.

And when someone asked him about his “game within the game”, Chucky gave the most Tkachuk answer ever: “The only game is the one out there. Just got to win it, move on.” No fluff, no filters, just straight-up team-first energy. That leadership? It’s loud without shouting. Explains why his teammates, including captain Aleksander Barkov, think so highly of him. “He’s one-of-a-kind player, and we’re lucky to have him on our side. He does it all for us. He’s huge for us,” said Barkov after Tkachuk broke his 10-game goal drought in Game 2 of the series. What speaks to Tkachuk’s value to the team is that while he didn’t find the back of the net in those games, he had assisted six goals.