Tkachuk leads all NHL players in points since Jan. 1

There is a lot to be excited about regarding the Florida Panthers these days.

The team has been one of the hottest in the NHL for several weeks.

Following Saturday’s 9-2 trouncing of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida has now won a franchise-record 11 consecutive road games and overall has gone 18-3-2 since late December.

In terms of the Panthers overall success this season, you can’t point to just one of two things and say, ‘yup, that’s why they’ve been so good.’

The truth is, there are a plethora of reasons.

From the overall effort by every single player put into playing Paul Maurice’s systems to the ridiculous year of Sam Reinhart to the scalding hot power play or the suffocating penalty kill to perhaps the best goaltending tandem in team history…Carter Verhaeghe tracking toward a career year and another 40-goal campaign, the resurgence of Oliver Ekman-Larsson or the overall offseason additions by Bill Zito (Kevin Stenlund, Dmitry Kulikov, Niko Mikkola, Evan Rodrigues, Jonah Gadjovich and OEL) all playing major roles in Florida’s success.

And then there’s Matthew Tkachuk.

It’s no coincidence that the Panthers season began rounding a corner when Tkachuk kicked his campaign into high gear.

He leads the NHL in points since Jan. 1, racking up an impressive 15 goals and 37 points over Florida’s 19 games, a stretch in which the Cats have gone 14-3-2.

It’s quite a change from the 27 points he logged over his first 36 games of the season, though looking deeper into the numbers, he was still positively impacting the game despite not producing as much on the scoresheet.

Then around Christmas time, the floodgates opened.

“His game in some ways isn't any different than at the start, when he wasn't (producing as much), except timing and a little bit of quickness,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice.

Tkachuk’s demeanor and effort level both on and off the ice never wavered.

That’s why it was no surprise to see what happened once the points started coming again.

“He's tearing it up right now, but I think the whole season, whether he's on the scoresheet or not, he's been a key player for us,” said Panthers captain Sasha Barkov. “On the ice obviously everyone sees what he's doing, off the ice he’s the leader. He does everything right. I've said so many good things about him, he's just incredible.”

We’re just going to have to wait and see how long both Tkachuk and the Panthers can continue operating at this kind of success rate.

It’s safe to say that regardless of the numbers, you can expect Tkachuk to continue doing his thing, humming along and singing his song, day in and day out.

“His game was good, he just wasn't scoring, and for Matthew, I think he handled that very well,” Maurice said. “He didn't cheat the game, he didn't try to open it up. I don't know if it bothered him, I think he has the confidence that he's gonna score, but he's very dynamic right now.”

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