![]() Offensively, he was unmatched in the analytics era for his influence on expected and actual goals. Only Connor McDavid had him beat in average Game Score (1.99 to 1.82). He was sixth league-wide in overall and five-on-five points, elite in terms of chance-creation for both himself and his teammates. But the potential - Florida was a top-three team in shots, expected goals, and actual goals at five-on-five - was always evident, and Tkachuk was always leading the way. Players like Anthony Duclair missed significant time. The process was evident, even if the results were sometimes lacking. Good as they were in last season’s Presidents’ Trophy run, they were more balanced in 2022-23. Back to TD Garden we go, where the pressure will be palpable and centered far from the Panthers’ locker room.įlorida pulling something like this off - maybe not a series win, but challenging Boston in a meaningful way - was always a possibility. The Bruins had taken the lead 27 seconds earlier, and they wouldn’t hold it again. Tkachuk’s work on the forecheck started the sequence. The second goal was the big one, part of a third-period teeter-totter ride that featured seven goals and three separate ties. Tkachuk had two goals and an assist on Friday night, scoring the Panthers’ second and fifth goals in a 6-5 win and pushing his individual point total to 10. And in a league that couldn’t identify a compelling narrative with two hands and a map, he’s a welcome gift. He isn’t just a great player he’s an anti-hero. ![]() The Panthers are headed back to Boston, tied 3-3 with the best regular-season team in NHL history and Tkachuk - in Year 1 with his hand-picked franchise, doing exactly what the Panthers bet he’d do - has led the way. He wasn’t right at the time, necessarily, but he is now. Economy of words isn’t typically one of Tkachuk’s gifts, but at this moment, it was. So there he was, minutes after he’d helped his team avoid elimination and moments after accepting a post-game trifle that marked his contributions, saying less than we’ve come to expect. ![]()
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