Tkachuk has not skated since the end of Game 4 on Saturday night
Tkachuk has not skated since the end of Game 4 on Saturday night
Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice knows whether Matthew Tkachuk will play in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night.
He’s just not telling anyone.
Well, anyone outside the Panthers inner circle, anyway.
“I know the answer…I’m not sharing it with you,” he said following Tuesday's optional morning skate.
Tkachuk missed the majority of the third period during Florida’s 3-2 loss in Game 4, though he did take the ice for two shifts late in the game.
He was on the ice for the final 2:26 as the Panthers made a final push to tie the game with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on the bench.
It’s the kind of situational use that Florida Head Coach Paul Maurice may employ with Tkachuk in Game 5, depending on if the All-Star forward is able to suit up.
If the usual hard-hitting, tight checking brand of hockey that Tkachuk likes to play doesn’t appear to be anything he’s able to do at the level necessary for it to be effective than Maurice will have to figure out another way to utilize his skills.
Moving around in tight spaces, stickhandling and shooting the puck may be the best things he can offer right now, and if that’s the case, it will be interesting to see how he’s deployed.
When asked about this, Maurice gave an interesting answer.
“There would be no limit (on Tkachuk) to start the game, but that would be true of any player I put in that was dealing with something,” he said.
Maurice may have just been being enigmatic about it, but the idea that Tkachuk is at a level where even the coach isn’t exactly sure how much he’ll be able to do is interesting.
For Panthers fans, it’s a craps shoot regarding what to expect from the team’s most clutch performer during the playoffs.
Will Tkachuk play?
If so, what will he be able to do?
We’ll find out tonight at T-Mobile Arena.