Matthew Tkachuk will skate Tuesday morning. Whether he'll play for the Florida Panthers in their playoff opener on Tuesday night is anyone's guess. Tkachuk — who hasn't played for the Panthers since Feb.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk is likely to play for the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, SCRIPPS, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).

There has been a buzz hovering around Matthew Tkachuk's eventful return, and the Florida Panthers have that fire just ahead of their playoff meeting with rivals Tampa Bay Lightning. As the brewing heat shifts a lot of focus onto the mental edge of Nikita Kucherov,