TAMPA, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk has entered the chat. He’s already carrying the conversation.
Playing in his first game since sustaining a brutal groin injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off two months ago, Tkachuk made his triumphant return in grand style, scoring twice and letting the Tampa Bay fans hear it as the defending champs had their way with the high-flying Lightning in a 6-2 victory in Game 1 of the highly anticipated Battle of Florida.
Tkachuk actually was a bit overzealous in the first period. With his team already ahead on a 1-0 courtesy of a Sam Bennett goal, Tkachuk took a run at Nikita Kucherov, and the roughing penalty led to Jake Guentzel’s goal that temporarily evened the score. It didn’t stay that way for long.
Sam Reinhart’s goal and Nate Schmidt’s first of two on the night put the Panthers ahead 3-1. Then, Tkachuk was left alone in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy and made no mistake, letting the crowd know in the aftermath that his Panthers were in control. Less than five minutes later, Tkachuk added a power-play goal to essentially put the contest out of reach.
It was a pleased Tkachuk who met with reporters following his big return.
“There have been some hard days,” Tkachuk said. “I’m grateful to be back out there. I have a ton of people to thank for getting me ready to play in the playoffs. I’m nice going out there and playing for them. I’ve had a ton of support at the rink and at home. Everyone was really positive around me when I maybe didn’t have my most positive days.”
A very grateful Matthew Tkachuk talks about his two-goal performance: pic.twitter.com/xwhNUMRYSl
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) April 23, 2025
Here are some takeaways:
The champs flipped the switch
The Lightning have emerged as a trendy Stanley Cup pick, entertaining this season on account of their star power and strong conclusion to the season. This has also become a reality because of the way the Panthers limped to the finish line, as Florida went 3-6-1 in its final 10 games.
Great teams, of course, possess the ability to channel themselves accordingly when the important games arrive.
It was utterly clear from the opening minutes of this game that a different Florida team had arrived for the postseason. They produced some odd-man breaks early, pushed the Lightning around early and often, and were the far more poised team from the very beginning. I’d say that any suggestions of Florida’s demise have been severely exaggerated.
Coach Cooper’s risk backfires
Lightning coach Jon Cooper took quite a gamble in the second period. Schmidt’s first goal did indeed see a bit of contact take place between the Panthers and Vasilevskiy, but there was never any chance this goal would be overturned.
Perhaps sensing his team was in trouble, Cooper took the chance anyway. He lost the challenge, which put his team on the penalty kill.
Tkachuk required only 14 seconds to make the Lightning pay.
WELCOME BACK, MATTHEW TKACHUK 🤯
He scores an absolute BEAUTY in his return to the lineup! #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @espn ➡️ https://t.co/m0LyTCHYnH
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/oERQwHxieq
— NHL (@NHL) April 23, 2025
Cooper is one of hockey’s great coaches, but this was a risky, questionable decision that put his team in a hole from which it wasn’t going to escape. The move reeked of desperation, as the Panthers aren’t the kind of team that is going to blow a multiple-goal lead in the postseason very often. Cooper had good reason to be desperate in that situation, but it wasn’t a good decision.
Cooper took the blame for that decision postgame.
“The coach has to eat it,” he said.
Lightning challenge for goalie interference but the original call of ‘goal’ stands after review.
Cooper went 1-0 on goalie interference challenges in the regular season pic.twitter.com/JMcYyMtbs9
— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) April 23, 2025
Jake Guentzel showed up, at least
Many of Tampa Bay’s big names — most of the Lightning players in general, to be fair — didn’t show up in this game. There was a sluggishness to their game all evening.
This can’t be said of Guentzel, however.
Guentzel, long a big-game performer in Pittsburgh, brought that acumen to his new home. With his team on the power play in the first period, Guentzel showcased his million-dollar hands to find a loose puck and beat Sergei Bobrovsky. This gives Guentzel 39 goals in 70 career Stanley Cup playoff games.
Guentzel recorded five of his team’s first 11 shots and was a presence most of the night. Many of his teammates should consider following his lead in Game 2.
Power. Play. Work. 👏 pic.twitter.com/Lupw1okIqG
— x – Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 23, 2025
Battle No. 1 goes to ‘Bob’
I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy can both expect to land in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto someday. Their credentials speak for themselves, and a series will rarely produce a goaltending matchup of this caliber.
While this wasn’t a night for goaltending, Bobrovsky was certainly the big winner on this night.
Vasilevskiy allowed five of the first 11 shots he faced to beat him. While he didn’t allow any offensively bad goals in that stretch, the numbers speak for themselves. Back in his Hall of Fame form this season, Vasilevskiy didn’t look like himself.
Meanwhile, Bobrovsky was perfectly solid. It’s easy to forget that there once was a time when Bobrovsky couldn’t win in the playoffs.
That was a long time ago.
(Photo of Matthew Tkachuk celebrating his second-period goal in Game 1: Mike Carlson / Getty Images)
