FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk has been in the middle of almost everything in the increasingly heated rivalry between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins the past two seasons, so chances are he will be again when they meet in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at TD Garden on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
"It will be good," the Panthers forward said Thursday. "It's a Friday night in Boston, the playoffs. It's going to be a lot of energy in the rink and two teams that are very familiar with each other and two teams that really want to win. So, this is a really good series right now and I'm sure it's going to be a great game again tomorrow."
Although it was Tkachuk's first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season that he didn't have a point, the 26-year-old was involved throughout the Panthers' 6-1 win in Game 2 on Wednesday, which evened the best-of-7 series.
It began with a scrum in front of the Bruins net 17 seconds into the game, in which he drew a roughing penalty on forward Justin Brazeau for pulling off his helmet. Tkachuk was knocked off his feet by a big hit from Bruins forward Brad Marchand later in the first period but got right up and remained active.
His night ended with his much-talked-about fight with Bruins forward David Pastrnak, who, like him, was a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player last season.
"A lot of energy in the game, a lot of emotion," Tkachuk said. "The playoffs are the best time of the year. Everybody knows that. It's just so much fun to play in the playoffs and have the crowd like it was last night. It was a great building."
The Panthers expect to play in a similarly emotionally charged building on Friday, though they probably won't get much crowd support. Florida proved it could thrive in such a hostile environment, however, during its series against Boston in the first round of the playoffs last season.
The Panthers won three games at TD Garden, including Games 5 and 7 in overtime to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win. Tkachuk again played a big role, scoring the winner in a 4-3 victory in Game 5 and assisting on Carter Verhaeghe's winning goal in another 4-3 victory in Game 7.
Tkachuk, who led the Panthers with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in that series, expects the Bruins' fans to remember that in addition to his extracurricular activities on Wednesday.
"I know they weren't too happy with us going back with Game 5 last year and especially Game 7," he said. "So, we're used to the hatred as an away team, especially our team now with a little of a rivalry that's being created here. We go and we just play. That's what makes us good. We don't care where we play, who we play. We just play and we have fun doing it."
Tkachuk has proven can be an impact player for the Panthers in multiple ways. His 10 points (four goals, six assists) in seven games are tied with Aleksander Barkov for most on the Panthers in the playoffs. And he has a knack for getting under an opponent's skin, as he quickly did with Brazeau in Game 3.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he didn't think Tkachuk was trying to agitate in that case, though.
"He actually doesn't take that many penalties anymore," Maurice said. "He's out of the box. And I think the true statement of that game is the hit he took from Marchand and got back up. He's just a gamer. He's just in on everything, but he's not starting fires out there. …He's not afraid to go to the net, and I think his reputation is far stronger than the play."
Tkachuk said the fight with Pastrnak began with a conversation on their previous shift.
"I kind of just asked him to fight. He said, 'We'll do it next game,'" Tkachuk said. "And I'm like, 'Maybe we just do it right now.' And he's like, 'All right. I'm going out next shift.' Give him tons of respect. It was two guys that aren't known of fighting, me and him, and two players that are probably known for the offensive side of the game. … We were both up for the Hart (last season) and just to see us out there battling at center ice in a playoff game, it's pretty cool."
After playing against Tkachuk for nearly eight seasons in the NHL before being traded to the Panthers by the Buffalo Sabres on March 8, forward Kyle Okposo has a greater appreciation for him now that they're teammates.
"I love 'Chuckie' and when you play against somebody like him for a long time, I don't love him," Okposo said. "But when he's on your team, he's just such a good person, a really good leader and he does things the right way. And for him to go out there and do that and Pastrnak to oblige, it just adds a little bit of fire to the series, and it was awesome to see.
"It's just kind of old school hockey and that's the way we like it."
