Two years ago, when the Florida Panthers made it to the finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Matthew Tkachuk played an integral role in Florida’s overpowering of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final. In the very first game of that series, Tkachuk scored in overtime and then skated straight off the ice into the locker rooms. The confidence, the attitude, and the play were all factors that set this player apart from everyone else and made him seem like a real force to reckon with, especially for the Canes, but, with Tkachuk returning to the season post his Four Nations Face-Off injury and his playing being not at par with his past performances, do his teammates feel he can still have an impact on the Canes series?

Aaron Ekblad, for one, doesn’t seem too worried. When asked in a recent interview about what kind of impact he thought Matthew Tkachuk would have on the upcoming Conference Final, Ekblad responded, “He brings a lot to the table even when he’s not scoring or getting points. He’s being physical; he’s a bench presence; he’s a little thorn in the other team’s side, so we appreciate everything he does.”

One thing is for sure, despite his goal scoring being minimal this season, Matthew Tkachuk has made sure to keep up his ‘thorny’ attitude, throwing threats at William Nylander during the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and even managing to shout a warning at the Hurricanes prior to the start of the Eastern Conference Finals. Whether or not Tkachuk will be able to regain his 2023 form against the Canes this year is yet to be seen, but until then, we can relish all the speculation and analyses!

Matthew Tkachuk’s 2023 performance against the Hurricanes, a walk down memory lane

When asked about Tkachuk’s contribution to Florida in the Canes series two years ago, Ekblad responded, “Yeah, big goals in that series for sure, obviously the OT winner. I can’t remember if you know there was other game winners in that, but I remember the one OT winner here in this building where he walked off the ice, and that was, you know, pretty special and pretty fun, and four OTs was a hell of a game; it was a lot of fun to play in, and we were fortunate to get that one across the finish line, so…”

There were indeed other game winners in that series, whether Ekblad remembers them or not. In fact, the second one came in the OT in game 2, where Tkachuk, who scored 1.51 seconds into overtime, poked fun at his own antics and ran off the ice to the locker room, shouting the now famous phrase, “Bus in 10 (minutes).” In game 3, Tkachuk gave Reinhart the assist on his goal, and in game 4, he scored two more.

The Panthers didn’t have a chance to play the Hurricanes in 2024, as they didn’t make it past the Rangers to the final, so we can only speculate on the fate of this series based on the 2023 showdown, but Matthew Tkachuk has been playing a lot differently since then. In any case, Aaron Ekblad doesn’t seem to think this will make much of a difference to Florida’s win.