Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk returned to action with two goals and an assist, and the Stanley Cup champs swiped home-ice advantage by thumping the host Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 to start their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

TAMPA, Fla. – It appears the Florida Panthers will get their star forward back for Game 1 against Tampa Bay. The Panthers announced on Tuesday afternoon that Matthew Tkachuk had been taken off injured reserve. The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported.

There were four playoff games in the NHL last night. And some teams got into it. Let’s take a look at what happened: The @FlaPanthers began their title defense with a Game 1 win on the road as all 2025 #StanleyCup Playoffs series have now played at least one contest.