Panthers' Tkachuk won't play Saturday after 4 Nations injury, further update to follow
Published
Matthew Tkachuk's status for the Florida Panthers is in question after the forward was unable to play past the second period in Team USA's overtime loss in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Thursday.
Tkachuk sustained a lower-body injury in Saturday's 3-1 win over Team Canada and missed Monday's meaningless game against Sweden before returning for the tournament final against Canada.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said he does not expect Tkachuk to play as the team returns from the 4 Nations break on Saturday against the Seattle Kraken, but could not provide a firm timeline.
“Give him day to day, and then I’ll give you a pretty good update in the next couple days,” Maurice said Friday.
“Obviously, he battles through absolutely everything, and, yeah, I don’t think it’s too good,” Tkachuk's younger brother Brady Tkachuk said after the 3-2 overtime loss. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see what ends up happening, but I know he was really disappointed.”
The 27-year-old Matthew joined Brady and Jack Eichel on the starting line for Team USA Thursday and the brothers later joined a line with Auston Matthews, who set up Brady for the Americans' opening goal.
Matthew Tkachuk, who remained on the bench through overtime, took his final shift of the game midway through the second period, finishing with 6:47 of ice time. He had two goals and one assist three games at the 4 Nations, with all three points coming in the opening game against Finland.
In 52 games with the Panthers this season, Tkachuk has 22 goals and 57 points, sitting second in goals and points behind Sam Reinhart, who played for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off.