#matthew-tkachuk

#matthew-tkachuk

(Ellen Schmidt / Associated Press)

Golden Knights goaltender Jonathan Quick has experienced the delicious, fluttery anticipation of Stanley Cup Eve twice before.As the most valuable player in the Kings' 2012 sprint through the playoffs and again in a gritty 2014 run, he had to live shot by shot, not daring to look ahead while friends, family and fans were planning celebrations.

(David Becker / Associated Press)

The NHL's landscape began to shift dramatically when the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks debuted as expansion teams in the 1993-94 season.The newcomers embodied themes that would recur throughout Commissioner Gary Bettman's tenure: attracting corporate owners - Blockbuster for the Panthers and Disney for the Ducks - and migrating toward the booming U.S. Sunbelt.

The New York Islanders have returned home (but not "home") to face the Rangers at the Garden on the first of a back-to-back set, starting with the third and final meeting with those red-panted Smurfs across town.Ilya Sorokin returned to form in the final game of the western swing, so it's conceivable he'd get both of these games with Semyon Varlamov out (see injury updates below).

At the Maple Leafs' end-of-season media availability, Ryan O'Reilly discussed the disappointing end to the playoffs, his short time in Toronto, and his future plans looking ahead to unrestricted free agency.What was your takeaway as you reflected on the series?O'Reilly: It is obviously very disappointing to get the five games like that.

Return of the King???
Earlier this week, Sharks GM Mike Grier told a few insiders that he would be open to trading Erik Karlsson.This came only a few days after Ian Mendes said on The Athletic Hockey Show that he thinks a return to Ottawa could happen for Erik Karlsson if Daniel Alfredsson were to become involved in the front office.

SAN JOSE - It wasn't a surprise to Sharks players to hear a report that general manager Mike Grier is willing to listen to trade offers for the vast majority of players on the team."I've played for 14 years and I knew I could get traded at any point at any time in any year," forward Nick Bonino said.

When the Florida Panthers defeated the Bruins Wednesday night, Matthew Tkachuk told his teammates to " Remember the room " because they would be back in Boston for Game 7.
His words, as it turned out, would be accurate because the Panthers capture the win in their own barn on Friday night to force the decisive Game 7.
It's now up to the Bruins to play to the standard they set in place all season long to not be the latest Presidents' Trophy winners to be sent packing in the first round.

On an off day on Thursday, Paul Maurice discussed the latest on Ryan Lomberg's injury recovery, whether his team is thinking back to Boston forfeiting their 3-1 series lead, and Brandon Montour's huge minutes in Game 4.
Any updates on the injury front?Maurice: Nothing.Lomberg is back on the ice.That is a positive for us.

Game 1 of Round 2 was a lot more exciting than Game 1 of Round 1 two weeks ago, but the same result happened for the Toronto Maple Leafs.Whether you lose 7-3 or 4-2, the Toronto Maple Leafs are down 1-0 to start a series, again.If you break down the game, the team didn't play particularly bad.However, the biggest issue was that they didn't take advantage of their opportunities.

Thank you, Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers, for putting on a Pride Night, deep in the swamps of Florida no less.Yes, we will talk about the Staals below, but they were the exception around a team that didn't waver in their support, including on social media where they weren't given a platform to expunge their exclusion.

Who's ready for a healthy dose of Matthew Tkachuk?For the first time this season, the Leafs and Panthers will tangle tonight at Scotiabank Arena.That's where the conversation started to kick off the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take.Furthermore, Toronto went 1-0-2 against Florida in 2021-22, but as we're all aware by now, this is a much different looking Cats squad.

The Bruins fell behind the Panthers at just 2:01 of the first period and played from behind for the majority of Game 6, which saw the lead go back and forth between the two clubs until Eetu Luostarinen gave Florida the lead at 14:22 of the third and never looked back, defeating Boston 7-5 to force Game 7.
Special teams were a key factor for both teams in the tilt, with Boston exploiting Florida's mishaps by going 3-for-4 on the man advantage.

For the second game in a row, the Boston Bruins took the ice against the Florida Panthers with their sights set on the second round.For the second game in a row, they were unable to finish the job.The Panthers got on the board first, which was important, as the team that scored first was 5-0 in this series.

At this point, we're running out of ways to describe the same problem, and now, the Bruins have officially run out of room for mistakes.Turnovers, loose coverage, and some shaky goaltending combined into another debacle for the B's, who lost Game 6 by a score of 7-5, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday at the Garden.

Linus Ullmark was forced to watch from his side as the Panthers extended the Boston-Florida first-round Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday night.A costly Ullmark mistake ultimately doomed the Bruins in Game 5 at TD Garden.Playing the puck behind his own net in sudden death, Ullmark tried to backhand it along the boards to no avail.

TEMPE, Ariz.(AP) - Matt Nieto scored a tie-breaking goal nine seconds into the third period and Jaycob Megna scored with six minutes remaining and the San Jose Sharks 4-2 beat the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.Megna's goal, his first of the season, came on an assist from Erik Karlsson, who leads the NHL with 42 assists and has points in 15 of the last 16 games.

TEMPE, Ariz.(AP) - Matt Nieto scored a tie-breaking goal nine seconds into the third period and Jaycob Megna scored with six minutes remaining and the San Jose Sharks 4-2 beat the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.Megna's goal, his first of the season, came on an assist from Erik Karlsson, who leads the NHL with 42 assists and has points in 15 of the last 16 games.

The Florida Panthers put forth a solid effort for most of last night's 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers, but a costly (and unnecessary) cross-checking penalty by Nick Cousins late in the first period led to a power-play one-timer from Mika Zibanejad that gave the Rangers a lead they simply would not relinquish.

DFS/Sports BettingWelcome to another edition of Blue Seat Bookie!I am going to be out of town for the first half of the coming week, so despite a 5-game slate on 12/18, I wanted to get some picks in that look extremely promising before I hop on a plane to Chicago.Define the Great Money Line: Record 3-5
Pittsburgh Penguins defeat Carolina Hurricanes +105Pittsburgh is absolutely steamrolling teams right now.

There was bound to be a night like this at some point, right?Blinded by the baby blues of Florida's Reverse Retro jerseys, the Bruins allowed the game to get away from them via three unanswered goals in the second period, ultimately losing to the Panthers, 5-2.The loss is just the third of the season for the Bruins, who saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end with a thud.

The Islanders are in Nashville for an 8 p.m. EST start against the Predators, who are 7-8-1 with a minus-10 goal differential.Catch opposition obsession-ing at On the Forecheck.Leave your FIG Picks for tonight here.Check last game's FIG post for recent scoring updates.Programming alert!The Weird Islanders podcast returns today with (what I would call) a special episode, discussing a great NHLer and brief Islander (but not one who just mailed it in) and a particularly funny fan of said player.

The San Jose Sharks concluded a six-game homestand on Saturday night (Nov.5), earning five points in that stretch, but they could have easily picked up seven or eight.The lost opportunities and potential wins that turned into shootout losses were defined by late third-period struggles, an issue that has plagued the team all season.

SAN JOSE - Rudolfs Balcers established new career highs with the San Jose Sharks last season in games played, points, and average time on ice.So it came as a surprise to Balcers to find out in July that the Sharks were placing him on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout, a move that saved the team $1.54 million under this season's salary cap.

STATS Record: 3-8-1Streak: L2Goals Leader: Erik Karlsson (9 G, 6 A)Assists Leader: Tomas Hertl (1 G, 7 A)Power Play: 16.7%Penalty Kill: 94.4%Goals For/60: 2.39Goals Against/60: 3.22Shots For/60: 28.48Shots Against/60: 30.63
LINES TBD
STATS Record: 5-4-1Streak: L1Goals Leader: Matthew Tkachuk (5 G, 8 A)Assists Leader: Matthew Tkachuk (5 G, 8 A)Power Play: 9.1%Penalty Kill: 71.8%Goals For/60: 2.99Goals Against/60: 3.09Shots For/60: 39.36Shots Against/60: 27.5
LINES TBD
How to Watch
Tonight's game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+ and Hulu, with a subscription required.

SAN JOSE - It wasn't a surprise to Sharks players to hear a report that general manager Mike Grier is willing to listen to trade offers for the vast majority of players on the team."I've played for 14 years and I knew I could get traded at any point at any time in any year," forward Nick Bonino said.