{"id":467008,"date":"2026-02-22T17:19:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/467008\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T17:19:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T17:19:20","slug":"panthers-matthew-tkachuk-looks-to-avenge-4-nations-loss-the-hockey-writers-florida-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/467008\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk Looks to Avenge 4 Nations Loss – The Hockey Writers – Florida Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Panthers are currently in the Olympic break. With a record of 29-25-3 and 61 points, they trail the Boston Bruins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference by eight points. They will try to save their Cup-defending season<\/a> when it restarts on Thursday, Feb. 26, against the Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n

The Panthers sent 10 players<\/a> to this year\u2019s Winter Olympic Games. Representing the United States of America is forward and alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk<\/a>. This is his first time donning the Stars and Stripes since losing in the Gold Medal match last season in the 4 Nations Face-Off to Canada by a score of 3-2 in overtime. He looks to avenge that dropped series Sunday morning in Milan and bring his team a gold medal for the first time since the \u201cMiracle on Ice\u201d in 1980.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s Been Playing Very Well in the Tournament<\/p>\n

Through five games in these Olympic Games, he\u2019s piled up six assists. This includes an assist on his brother, Brady Tkachuk<\/a>\u2018s, goal scored in their first game against Latvia.<\/p>\n

Related: Panthers\u2019 Recent Slump and Blown Leads May Have Cost Them Postseason<\/a><\/p>\n

He looks to improve upon that since his last go-around in international play was cut short. In the 4 Nations, he potted two goals and was credited with an assist in three games before leaving the Gold Medal match with a lower-body injury.<\/p>\n

He Has to Answer the Bell From Canada After the 4 Nations Fiasco<\/p>\n

Right off the opening faceoff in a preliminary match against Canada during the 4 Nations Face-Off, Tkachuk started a fight with Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel<\/a>. This, in turn, had a domino effect. His brother Brady would drop the gloves with his Panther linemate Sam Bennett.<\/p>\n

\"MatthewFeb 20, 2026; Milan, Italy; Matthew Tkachuk (19) of the United States looks to pass as Samuel Takac (49) of Slovakia defends during the second period in a men\u2019s ice hockey semifinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Afterwards, current New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller would square up with St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko. The US would go on to win that game 3-1.<\/p>\n

Once it was over, it was revealed that there was a group chat discussing the altercations in an attempt to \u201csend a message\u201d<\/a>. No pun intended.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a group chat going on today,\u201d Brady Tkachuk said. \u201cWe just reaffirmed we were going to do that. I think Matthew\u2019s fight to start it off was just such an energy boost. I think I was more excited, more nervous for my own. And then for Millsy to cap it off against a big guy like that, he did a great job. It was a pretty awesome experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brady Tkachuk on the fights from the 4 Nations Face-Off.<\/p>\n

With this in the back of everyone\u2019s minds, Tkachuk may have planted the seed for what is going to be a tension-heavy Gold Medal game.<\/p>\n

Is He Going to Bring Home the Gold?<\/p>\n

Hillary Knight and the women\u2019s Team USA got the job done<\/a> on Thursday by a score of 2-1 in overtime against Canada. With that, there\u2019s some more motivation to steal a win on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Related: Lightning vs Panthers Battle of Florida Still Deserves More Love<\/a><\/p>\n

History, however, has not favored Team USA. In their previous five meetings, Canada has won four<\/a>, with the United States\u2019 last victory coming in 2010 in group play. However, Team Canada could be without their captain, Sidney Crosby. If that is the case, the Americans have to take advantage and steal the dub in Italy. Otherwise, the number of \u201cwhat ifs\u201d are going to be burning in their minds for the next four years.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Florida Panthers are currently in the Olympic break. With a record of 29-25-3 and 61 points, they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5102],"tags":[3189,62,57,5141,5,94,4,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-467008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida-panthers","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-panthers","11":"tag-floridapanthers","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-matthew-tkachuk","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-panthers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116115431489661832","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}