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Is Matthew Tkachuk playing tonight? Paul Maurice drops major update on Panthers star's return to lineup against Wild
Matthew Tkachuk has missed the last five games due to an illness. He returned to practice on Monday and Panthers coach Paul Maurice has said that the star player is set to be back in the lineup tonight. Sergei Bobrovsky is also getting the nod in the net today.
Maurice had said on Monday via NHL:
"Based on what I saw in practice, I will assume he plays tomorrow (Tuesday). We need to make sure he comes to the rink feeling as good as he left, but we expect those things to happen. We expect him to play. We were cautious. … It got taken care of."
Now that it is Tuesday and Tkachuk still feels fine, he is expected to be back in the lineup for the Florida Panthers. Though Tkachuk is an impact player, the Panthers have hardly missed a beat. They're still 4-2-1 ahead of their matchup today despite his absence.
The Panthers will take on the Minnesota Wild, a team that is currently 3-0-2. It is an early matchup of good teams off to stellar starts, and the Panthers will have their superstar back on the ice for it.
Aleksander Barkov set to join Matthew Tkachuk in return soon
The Florida Panthers are 3-1-1 without both star forwards Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov. That's a stellar record without two major pieces of their offense, but they're getting Tkachuk back tonight.
Barkov has also missed five games, but he has been dealing with a lower-body injury. Head coach Paul Maurice is still confident that he'll be back soon.
"I think it will be sometime on this trip and I think he plays before we go to Finland, Maurice said. (via NHL.com) "If it is not right where we need to be, it will be in Finland. But he will be playing."
The coach believes he will be back on the ice during the team's upcoming three-game road trip, where they will take on the New York Rangers on Thursday, the New York Islanders on Saturday, and the Buffalo Sabres after that.
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