Panthers Put Up Dud In Tkachuk’s Return

After grinding through a respectable 3-1-1 record without Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, the Florida Panthers put up a dud in Tkachuk’s return. While not Tkachuk’s fault, it was not the ideal game before the Cats embark on a three-game road trip.

The Minnesota Wild notched two goals in the first period and another a couple of minutes into the second to give themselves a 3-0 lead. Sam Bennett looked like he was going to jump start a comeback halfway through the second period. He (inadvertently) kicked home a goal right in front of the crease on a centering feed from Carter Verhaeghe.

But the Wild followed it up with two unanswered goals to put away any idea of a rally.

Tkachuk is Back

Tkachuk had missed the last five games due to an undisclosed illness that required a “procedure,” although the top winger did not divulge any further information about that.

“I’m feeling very good,” Tkachuk said Tuesday morning. “I was never really sick, just had to have a little procedure done. I have been good since then, and just had to take a few days to make sure everything was all settled. Ready to get back into the lineup and help.”

For his part, Tkachuk left an imprint on any chance Florida might’ve had on Tuesday. He received a stretch pass from Nate Schmidt right at the blue line and managed to stay onside while deflecting the puck towards Verhaeghe, who set up the aforementioned goal for Bennett.

Bobrovsky Has To Wait

Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky entered Tuesday with 399 career wins. It would have been nice for him to reach the 400 club in front of the home crowd at Amerant Bank Arena, but it seems the hockey gods had other plans.

The 36-year-old allowed five goals and was removed after two periods. He stopped 11 of 16 shots he faced. For those that care about such things, Natural Stat Trick said the Wild only had 1.61 expected goals against him.

Spencer Knight came in relief and stopped all six shots he faced.

The Reinforcements Are Coming Soon

Barkov, out since October 10 when he injured his leg falling into the boards, is expected to join the Panthers at some point on their upcoming three-game New York road trip.

Tomas Nosek, out since the first game of the preseason with an upper-body injury after getting hit into the boards, is slated to return during the Panthers’ trip to Finland on Nov. 2.

Both players have been skating at practice in yellow non-contact jerseys.