Matthew Tkachuk strikes quickly for Panthers in Game 1 victory over the Lightning

Matthew Tkachuk was back for the first time in more than two months He was not rusty And the Florida Panthers rolled in their playoff opener Playing for the first time in more than two months after dealing with a lower-body injury Tkachuk scored two second-period goals in his return championship for the Panthers in their Eastern Conference first-round series opener at Tampa Bay Florida went on to win - the outcome never in doubt after that second-period flurry by the reigning Stanley Cup champions Tkachuk finished with two goals and an assist the fifth three-point event of his playoff career It was a long two months away Tkachuk explained in a televised postgame interview You miss everything but you just miss competing on the ice in the locker room with the guys just going through it all I missed that the majority It s so so nice to be back out there with them His two goals were both power-play tallies the first putting Florida up - the second goal for the Panthers in a -second span that blew the battle open and the next one pushing the lead to - midway through the second period It was just like old times Tkachuk got twisted up with Tampa Bay s Brandon Hagel someone he fought during the Nations Face-off tournament after one whistle took the tournament s first penalty on a roughing call leading to Tampa Bay s first goal then made sure his name was all over the scoresheet Florida coach Paul Maurice in a televised in-game interview with ESPN reported he was content with what he was seeing from Tkachuk in his first contest back and expected him to be the difference-maker for the Panthers That s what he is for us Maurice declared He s got an incredible set of hands got an incredible gift for the emotional demands of a championship when you need a hit when you need a big play He s been great for us Tkachuk explained there were times during his two months away that he wasn t sure if he would be ready to return this season And the decision on whether Tkachuk would even be out there for Competition wasn t certain until just before championship time Tkachuk went through practices Saturday and Monday then took part in the gang s day-of-game skate Tuesday in Tampa before the final decision on his return was made Maurice even indicated that it could come down to the final scarce minutes before the p m start time of the championship Tkachuk hadn t played for the Panthers since Feb because of a lower-body injury suffered during the Nations Face-off tournament two months ago He was on Florida s second line for practice Monday and the skate on Tuesday alongside Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Bennett his linemates for Challenge as well And Match also marked Tkachuk s first time in a competition with former Boston forward Brad Marchand as one of his teammates The Panthers acquired Marchand at the transaction deadline Marchand had an assist in Tuesday s win Tkachuk missed the club s final games of the regular season yet still finished with goals assists and points third-most on the organization in all three categories He was also second on the Panthers this season with power-play goals Over his first two playoff runs with the Panthers in and both of which netted trips to the Stanley Cup Final Tkachuk had points in games And Tuesday was his fourth multi-goal playoff encounter since joining Florida the Panthers are - in those games Matthew s good on the power play really good He knows what he s doing down there Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper reported I think we kind of gave him the second one we threw it right on his stick