TAMPA, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk made his long-awaited return to the lineup and was back to his old self quickly for the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, who opened this postseason the way they landed postseason: With a win.
Playing for the first time in more than two months after dealing with a lower-body injury, Tkachuk scored two second-period goals in his return game, as the Panthers handled the rival Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-2, in this Eastern Conference first-round series opener at Amalie Arena.
Those two goals were both of the power-play variety, the first putting Florida up 4-1 -- the second goal for the Panthers in a 14-second span -- and the next one pushing the lead to 5-1 midway through the second period.