‘He was a mess’: Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk played through brutal injury in playoffs

SUNRISE — Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk missed the end of the regular season, but returned in time for Florida’s second straight Stanley Cup winning run.

What people outside the Panthers organization did not know was that Tkachuk was playing with a downright brutal injury even as he scored scored a goal in Game 6.

“I tore my adductor off the bone and then had some hernia thing,” Tkachuk told the TNT post-game broadcast. “All on the same side. Wanted to throw in the towel a bunch of times, I’m sure. I’ve got to thank a lot of people for getting me healthy enough. I’m sure I wasn’t the easiest to deal with. My fiance did a great job with the house on days when I probably wasn’t in the best mood coming to the rink. The trainers, maybe when I wasn’t in the best mood when I was in pain. I just owe them so much.”

Tkachuk said before Tuesday’s Game 6 victory that he was not sure he would get to play in the postseason.

“I didn’t know if I was going to come back at the start,” Tkachuk said Monday. “Kind of found out the day before I was going to have a chance to play. Day of, honestly. The first round was definitely the worst I felt, by far.”

Florida coach Paul Maurice had said he did not know if Tkachuk would be physically capable of even finishing the first-round series against Tampa Bay.

But Tkachuk scored two goals in his first game back. He had an extended scoring drought but finished the postseason with eight goals and 15 assists.

It is not the first time Tkachuk has played through injuries during playoff runs. He broke his collarbone during Florida’s 2023 trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

“What he does so well is he’s so smart,” Maurice said. “He managed himself around the ice and around the game that he could still produce, but he wasn’t taking hits, and he wasn’t giving hits. He was (on) open ice, and then he just kind of slowly built up.

Maurice added: “The closer we got toward the end of the Final, it didn’t matter. Tears it off the bone again, fine. He’ll come back in January. Just help the team win. And his last four games, for me, were the four best games he’s played with the Florida Panthers.”

Matthew Tkachuk reveals he tore his adductor muscle off the bone, and had "some hernia thing," which almost kept him out of the playoffs 😳 pic.twitter.com/lIlOnOCGTD

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 18, 2025

PHOTOS: Panthers capture second consecutive Stanley Cup with Game 6 win

Originally Published: June 18, 2025 at 12:47 AM EDT