Saturday's clash against the Buffalo Sabres marked Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk's first bout against one of his new Atlantic Division rivals, and the talented pest predictably made a lasting impression.
"There's some guys over there I'll be playing against for the next eight-plus years," Tkachuk said following his team's 4-3 victory, according to The Associated Press' John Wawrow. "Especially with some of the stuff that happened at the end that they did, we'll remember that for a while."
Tkachuk drew the ire of Sabres winger Alex Tuch after he made a low hit on defenseman Henri Jokiharju late in the opening period. Then, after the final buzzer sounded, multiple Sabres, including Tuch and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, went after Tkachuk in a fiery scrum as boos rained down from those in attendance at the KeyBank Center.
"That's the type of hockey he's gonna play. I knew it," Tuch said of Tkachuk's antics. "You know what, it's something that he wants to bring to the table. I'd say a lot of us don't really want to give him the time of day, but sometimes you've gotta stick up for your teammates.
"Sometimes it's good, and then other times, just let him kind of run around out there and take himself out of the play sometimes."
The testy contest featured a parade of players from both sides heading to the box. The Panthers saw six opportunities on the man advantage and potted two power-play goals while the Sabres failed to score on four chances.
Tkachuk chipped in with a goal and an assist on Brandon Montour's tally, which ultimately stood as the game-winner.
Buffalo head coach Don Granato said he "loved" what he saw from his side and that many of the Sabres were "pissed off" about the outcome of the game.
"For us, (Tkachuk's) a competitive guy. When you get ultra-competitive guys, you're forced to respond. ... I think today, at times, we had to respond," Granato said. "But we have guys that will start initiating now based on now going through something like that one time. (It) pisses them off enough that they won't have to respond. We got a lot of guys that will be initiating more and more."
He added, "I can't wait to play that team again. ... There's a fire in our guys that burned, burned hotter every moment in that game."
The Panthers and Sabres will meet again in Buffalo on Jan. 16, followed by two more contests in Florida on Feb. 24 and April 4.
Tkachuk, 24, became the Eastern Conference's problem after the Calgary Flames traded him to the Panthers in July. He's currently playing out the first season of an eight-year, $76-million pact.
