Editorial

Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk Completely Trucks Vegas Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel With Massive Hit In Game 2

[Twitter/Screenshot/Public — @Sportsnet]

Andrew Powell Sports and Entertainment Blogger
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What an outright beautiful hit by Tkachuk.

The Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights squared off Monday night in Game 2 of the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Final, with the Golden Knights unfortunately thrashing my Panthers to get a 7-2 win to go up 2-0 in the series.

But Vegas’ dominance isn’t the only thing that people are talking about.

Late in the 2nd period with the Golden Knights up big (4-0), Florida superstar Matthew Tkachuk rushed down the ice in an attempt to halt a Vegas charge and it worked to perfection.

Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel was skating up to the center of the ice along with the rest of his teammates, but before he could get there, he was absolutely blasted by Tkachuk. And though it caused some contention (and briefly took Eichel out of the game), it was a gorgeous hit.

WATCH:

Here are some other angles of that beaut:

And to the haters, Eichel was completely fine with the hit on him, acknowledging that it was “clean” — which it was.

As you can imagine, I was pretty irritated during our blowout loss.

So, I’m sure you can understand when I admit that I let out a little fist pump when Matthew Tkachuk absolutely floored Jack Eichel. I was sitting there and dealing with the frustration of what was a 4-0 blowout at the time (yes, it got worse), and then Tkachuk lands that absolutely gorgeous hit. And in the process, let me (and other Panthers fans) blow off some steam.

I don’t care what anybody says, that hit was needed. And then the fact that Eichel himself doesn’t have an issue with the hit? (RELATED: ESPN’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Anaheim’ Trailer (And Release Date) Revealed, And It Looks Absolutely Fantastic)

Oh yeah, it’s like that Lil Nas X song — can’t nobody tell me nothin’!

Now onto South Florida for Game 3, where I hope to God my Cats can pull off another Cardiac miracle.