[FanIn80]

Article in the NYT:

Matthew Tkachuk is still doing it all for the Panthers, minus the flash

NEW YORK — Matthew Tkachuk spoiled us a year ago.

There were so many big moments during the Florida Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.

The overtime goals. The game winners. The big hits. The crashing of the net.

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Tkachuk’s seal-breaking, first-period goal was also the game winner, making him the first player in nhl history with four game-winning goals through his first five career games in the conference finals. Tkachuk also hammered vincent trocheck with a pair of first-period hits, including a well-timed open-ice doozy that trocheck didn’t see coming. Tkachuk’s aggressive forecheck caused multiple giveaways on a night when the rangers had trouble getting out of their zone cleanly.

Tkachuk would have set up aleksander barkov for a 2-0 lead in the second period, but igor shesterkin foiled that opportunity. Tkachuk was the guy to whom carter verhaeghe tried to make a tape-to-tape pass at the backdoor in the third period after a shesterkin turnover. Instead, verhaeghe hit alexis lafrenière on the tape for a back-breaking own goal for the rangers. And it was tkachuk who assisted on sam bennett’s empty net goal.

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Tkachuk has been singing barkov’s praises all playoffs, especially after their series-clinching win last week in boston. But barkov, after wednesday’s win put the panthers three wins from their second consecutive prince of wales trophy, said, “i can say the same things about him. He’s a leader. He’s a true leader of this team. He does everything (that) he can, and today was a good example of that. He set the tone physically and made some plays and did whatever he does at his best and we just follow his lead.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/551...rangers-game-1

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