Takeaways: Matthew Tkachuk Calgary Homecoming Results in Panthers Loss

The long-awaited Matthew Tkachuk Calgary homecoming went far from planned for him and his Florida Panthers.

Panthers Get Embarrassed in Tkachuk’s Calgary Homecoming

The Panthers looked to right the ship against Calgary after their collapse against the Edmonton Oilers. But they ended up leaving with their tail between their legs after getting absolutely embarrassed 6-2 in front of the raucous Calgary crowd. 

17,806 fans crammed into the Saddledome to witness the return of their prized 2016 draft pick. It was the second and final meeting between the two clubs but the first time Tkachuk would play in front of the fans who used to chant his name. The Matthew Tkachuk Calgary homecoming didn’t go as hoped.

Six minutes into the game the Flames played a touching tribute to their former superstar. The crowd gave a thunderous standing ovation while the most polarizing player to ever don those famed red and yellow jerseys stood there and soaked in the final time he’d ever hear them cheer his name.

Post-game, Tkachuk described the whole experience as being “Special, obviously” adding “I have lots of fond memories here. It was pretty cool. They kept it going for a while too. It wasn’t just a couple seconds thing and it was over. Nice of them.”

But as that chapter of his career officially came to a close, the Calgary faithful were quick to change their tune and let the “boos” rain down.

“Passionate fans,” Tkachuk said when describing the shift in reception by the fans.

But aside from booing their former star, the Flames fans didn’t have much else to complain about.

Calgary stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back.

The Panthers made attempts to get back in the game. But any hope for a fiery comeback was snuffed out when Brett Ritchie scored from an impossible angle to restore Calgary’s three-goal lead.

Calgary cruised to a 6-2 win and the Panthers are now on their second three-game losing streak in their last seven games. 

Let’s have a look at the biggest takeaways of this latest performance from the sinking Panthers.

Another Bad Start from Bobrovsky

I recently published an article where I handed out letter grades to each player on the Florida Panthers. A first-quarter evaluation of how well each player has met expectations. 

Well, the C+ grade I gave to Sergei Bobrovsky is looking far too generous after last night’s performance.

In a game where the Panthers desperately needed some solid goaltending, the “10 million dollar” man failed to deliver.

Bobrovsky was the most rested player coming into last night. The Panthers were on the tail end of a back-to-back after traveling 2,500 miles to begin this road trip.

The players were inevitably going to be tired so they needed to be able to lean on their netminder.

But once again Bobrovsky failed to show up. 

In his 12 starts this year, Bobrovsky has only recorded four quality starts. For anyone that is unfamiliar with the stat, Quality Starts (QS), it’s a stat used to determine whether a goalie gave their team a chance to win. 

It is the relationship between the goaltender’s save percentage and the team’s winning percentage. 

For reference, the average QS% for the entire league is 53%. Bobrovsky’s is 41%. 

Just over ten minutes into the first period and the Flames already had three goals on six shots. Not a quality start.

This game was over before it even started.

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Rest of the Team is Not Off the Hook.

It certainly is easy to put the blame for this loss on Bob. But the rest of the team was doing a horrendous job in front of him. 

Even if you want to chalk this up to tough scheduling and being tired, it’s no excuse. Every team has adversity and a tough schedule at some point in their season. 

But good teams find a way to win. And right now, the Panthers are not a good team.

The Cats had a golden opportunity to jump out with a lead with a power play goal but instead squandered it by giving up a short-handed goal.

Aaron Ekblad was caught out of position and the Flames skated down the ice for an easy two-on-one finish. 

Six minutes later the Panthers’ shorthanded unit failed to clear a puck in front of their net and allowed former Panther, Jonathan Huberdeau, to shovel one home.

And on the final goal of the opening frame, Aleksi Heponiemi blew his coverage and lost Rasmus Andersson who had all day to rifle one past Bobrovsky.

Entire Panthers Team Needs to Take a Look in the Mirror

Hockey is arguably the most team game in all of sports. So you can hardly ever fault just a single player.

The overall team play has been horrific the past two weeks. Something must be done now before this team free falls down the standings and loses all hope for a shot at the playoffs. 

The Panthers have now lost seven of their last nine games and are conceding a brutal 4.3 goals in that span.

At the start of the year, Paul Maurice wanted an emphasis on playoff-style hockey — being a team that played hard in every zone. 

Well, this team has been anything but hard to play against. 

It’s hard to put a blame on any one thing, whether it’s early season injuries, the absence of Aleksander Barkov, or perhaps this new system not playing into the strengths of its players.

Whatever the cause, this team wins as a team and loses as a team. It’s time for the players to take a look in the mirror and figure out what kind of team they want to be.

Up Next

The Florida Panthers get a much-needed day of rest before taking to the ice tomorrow.

The Panthers head further west to take on the Vancouver Canucks. It will be their first meeting of the season.

Vancouver has won five of their last seven games and sports a 3-5-1 record at home.

Puck drop is at 10:00 pm EST.