Matthew Tkachuk didn't shy away from the physicality in his first game of the season. The Panthers and USA star has nine games left before the Olympics, but there's no concern about the risk of injury.
Florida Panthers star left winger Matthew Tkachuk made his season debut against the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
He hadn't featured for the Panthers since undergoing surgery in the off-season to repair a torn adductor muscle and a sports hernia.
With spending half a season out of game action, some would expect a gradual return to action for Florida's No. 19.
However, going into his first game since hoisting the Stanley Cup on June 17, Tkachuk was ready to hit the ground running, even if he missed 47 regular-season contests.
"I'm here to be a hockey player, not to cheer from the sidelines," Tkachuk told reporters before the game.
"I am here to be competing with the guys. It's not like I can dip my toe like it is the pre-season or even the beginning of a season like past years. I told them I am coming back. Throw me in the fire."
Panthers coach Paul Maurice must've heard Tkachuk's request because the right winger was certainly thrown into the fire.
Despite starting the game on the third line with Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich, he finished the game with 20:58 of ice time, taking 22 shifts, along with three shots on goal, one hit and one blocked shot.
"Felt better as it went along," Tkachuk told reporters post-game. "First period was weird, I will say... nothing, nothing mimics a game. It was weird, but the second period felt a little bit better, and then the third kind of felt pretty much back to normal."
It didn't take long for him to get comfortable on the ice and to get back to his old ways.
Less than 10 minutes into this contest, Tkachuk found himself in a physical altercation with Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais, who also played his first game back from an injury on Monday.
Tkachuk gave and took some cross-checks and slashes from Desharnais following an aggressive battle in front of San Jose's goal. The referees gave a roughing penalty to Tkachuk and roughing and slashing penalties to Desharnais on the play.
A little later in the first period, Desharnais got Tkachuk back with a strong hit.
"There were a couple, a couple scrums early, a couple hits," Tkachuk said. "It’s what you need. You almost need that as like a last check it off that you're good to go."
With all the cross-checks, slashes and hits taken in this game, in addition to the 20-plus minutes played, there has to be some concern of injury risk.
Over the past year, Tkachuk has dealt with multiple injuries that have kept him out of the lineup for long periods of time.
After suffering a lower-body injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off, he missed the final 25 games of last year's regular season and suited up for Game 1 of the first round.
Understandably, the Panthers will need to rely on a star player such as Tkachuk, especially with injuries to Brad Marchand, Seth Jones and Aleksander Barkov. But with his recent history of injuries and extended absences from the lineup, there's a risk in giving him 20 hard minutes per game right away.
Not to mention, Florida and Tkachuk have just nine games left before players head to Milan for the 2026 Olympics. Tkachuk will represent Team USA at the tournament as a key member.
Besides the upcoming international competition, Tkachuk needs to be 100 percent healthy for the struggling Panthers if they want to lift the Stanley Cup for the third straight campaign.
At the moment, the Cats are seventh in the Atlantic Division and are four points out of a playoff spot. With a long list of woes on the Panthers' roster, they need their emotional leader fully healthy to go on another run.
But as far as Maurice is concerned, there are no concerns.
"We're not worried about him," Maurice said. "He's gotten to a point that anything that happens going forward is going to be based on whatever happens going forward. He's not carrying this injury into the rest of the season."
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