Matthew Tkachuk’s new bold statement heading into Game 6

Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk meant well when he guaranteed a win for Florida in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. He said:

"We have a chance to go capture the biggest goal of our lives tonight. And we’re gonna go do that.”

It just didn’t happened…

Tkachuk played an incredible game on Tuesday night, posting a goal and an assist in the Oilers’ 5-3 win, while also making one heck of a save in the final moments of the contest, before rival captain Connor McDavid sealed the deal with an empty-netter.

While Tkachuk delivered on the ice, his words prior to Game 5 fell short, but that did not stop the Panthers’ gritty forward from making another bold claim after the loss when talking about Game 6 in Edmonton on Friday night. Tkachuk insisted that he and his teammates were not feeling any pressure entering Game 6.

“No, no, no,” Tkachuk said. “It’s not an elimination game for us. We’re going up there. We have a 3-2 series lead. We just have to take care of business like we did in Game 3.”

If one thing is clear it’s that the Panthers need to get going early into the game and cannot chase a comeback with the Oilers in desperate mode.

Before putting up two points in Game 5 last night, Tkachuk has had a pretty quiet series, posting just one assist in Game 3 since the opening of the Stanley Cup Final.

Now I love that Tkachuk is feeling confident about his teammates and what they can accomplish, but for Game 6, he needs to pick up where he left off and show that actions speak louder than words.