Tkachuk Returns After Injury Scare, Panthers Fall 4-0 to Lightning

SUNRISE, Fla. — If the Christmas spirit consists of fighting, misconducts and pure hatred, Amerant Bank Arena was the place to be Monday night. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers 4-0, as the two sunshine state teams split its back-to-back series ahead of the Christmas break. 

Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson saved all 36 shots he faced, picking up the shutout against his former team and snapping their four-game win streak.

Monday’s game wasn’t very jolly, with a combined 63 penalty minutes, three misconducts and too many flying bodies to count. 

Control of the game was lost late in the first period  after Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov landed a hit on Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk’s right leg,

Tkachuk immediately grabbed his leg following the collision and signaled towards the Panthers bench for the trainer. Kucherov was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct, while Tkachuk was assisted to the Panthers dressing room without putting weight on the leg. 

The immediate thought following the hit was how bad of an injury did Tkachuk sustain — knee-on-knee collisions usually don’t end well — so it came as a surprise to most when Tkachuk returned to play in the second period.

“Really good on him [for returning],”  Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “He knew he wasn’t the only guy in the training room at that point and we couldn’t afford to lose two or three guys at once.”

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

While Tkachuk returned and finished the game, the league will certainly look at the play and determine if Kucherov’s hit is deemed worthy of supplemental discipline. 

The Panthers suffered a few injuries apart from Tkachuk, who finished the game despite not being at 100 percent.

Both AJ Greer and Niko Mikkola were shaken towards the end of the second period. Greer did return to the game, however Mikkola could not return, and was designated as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, per Maurice.

“[Niko] tried to come back but he couldn’t,” Maurice said. “We’ll see how he ia when he comes out of the break.

As for Monday’s result, the loss won’t damper the holiday mood for the Panthers; they enter the Christmas break in first place in the Atlantic Division. 

“One 4-0 loss isn’t our season, we are happy with the way things have been going,” said Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad. “We are going to continue to build on that, get some much needed rest, and try to feel good coming out of it.”

The Panthers will be back in action, at home, on Dec. 28 when the Montreal Canadiens come to town. 

PANTHERS NOTES

Forwards Jonah Gadjovich and Jesper Boqvist (both upper-body) remained out of the lineup. Rasmus Asplund played his second consecutive game in their absence.

Sergei Bobrovsky starteed on Monday after Spencer Knight picked up the win on Sunday in Tampa.

Florida’s 46 points in 36 games is best in the Atlantic, 3rd best in the East.