Panthers' Tkachuk on knee-on-knee hit from Kucherov: 'Lucky it wasn't worse than what it was'

Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald on Dec 28, 2024

Published in Hockey

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

SUNRISE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk’s Christmas involved plenty of rest and relaxation.

“A lot of time in the pool,” Tkachuk said. “A lot of ice.”

The Florida Panthers’ star winger needed it after enduring a dangerous knee-on-knee hit by Nikita Kucherov in the first period of Florida’s 4-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday before the team took off for the NHL’s Christmas break.

While Tkachuk ultimately returned to the game, the hit looked scary in the moment.

With just over three minutes left in the first period, Kucherov went into Tkachuk at full speed in Florida’s offensive zone. Tkachuk sprawled down to the ice and immediately called for a trainer, who along with defenseman Nate Schmidt helped Tkachuk off the ice. Tkachuk went straight to the dressing room and wasn’t able to put any weight on his right leg.

“There was a pretty good deal of pain. That’s a nice way of putting it,” Tkachuk said Friday. “It did not feel good.”

Tkachuk, who entered Saturday afternoon’s 4-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens tied for second on the team with 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists), said he went through “all the tests for everything” in the locker room and “got all the major stuff ruled out.”

“It was, at that point, just being able to deal with the pain I was dealing with,” Tkachuk said. “I was able to put some more pressure on it and skating felt all right. So went out, gave it a try, and felt good enough to play. But yeah, scary. You never want to see that happen to anybody. I’m just lucky it wasn’t worse than what it was.”

He was back on the ice 2:19 into the second period and ultimately managed to log more than 11 minutes of ice time over 14 shifts — nine of which came after the collision — in the game.

“That’s who he is,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said after the Lightning game. “He’s incredible, he’s not going down easily. You can count on him. He’s going to come back no matter what. He’s a true, true warrior. He battles through a lot of a lot.”

“Matthew’s got a great emotional feel for the game, about what needs to happen next,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice added. “He just knew we needed him back. He wasn’t at 100 percent obviously, [but] I’ve seen him play with a broken collarbone. He tried to figure out a way, and we appreciate that about him.”

Kucherov was assessed a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct on the play. He was not suspended or fined by the league.

When asked if he thought Kucherov should have been suspended, Tkachuk said “it’s not my call” but did note the play won’t be forgotten. Florida and Tampa Bay face off two more times this regular season: March 3 in Sunrise and April 15 in Tampa Bay to wrap up the season.

“We’ll be gunning next game we play those guys for sure,” Tkachuk said. “You never want to see that happen to a teammate or anybody. I know the guys weren’t too happy about it. Neither was I.”

More injury updates

While Tkachuk managed to return and isn’t dealing with any major repercussions from the Kucherov hit, the Panthers have a mixed bag on the rest of the injury front.

The good: Forward Jesper Boqvist is returning to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury sustained against the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 18.

The bad: Defenseman Niko Mikkola, who did not play in the third period against Tampa Bay on Monday, remains out while dealing with an upper-body injury. Adam Boqvist is replacing Mikkola in the lineup for the time being.