Matthew Tkachuk gives his opinion of Panthers’ impressive depth scoring by defensemen – Source: Imagn

The Florida Panthers have shown impressive scoring depth in their second-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. A major contributor to the Panthers’ success has been scoring from their defensemen.

Florida’s defensemen have chipped in with five goals against the Leafs, and in total, 10 different blueliners have found the back of the net for the Panthers this postseason.

Ahead of Game 6, star forward Matthew Tkachuk credited the team’s defense group when asked about their depth in scoring from the back end.

“It’s been great. We have a great back end,” Tkachuk said to NHL on TNT. “One to six, one to seven, we’ve had depth throughout playoffs with some suspensions and stuff.”

He went on to highlight the unit’s ability to adjust to lineup changes and increased minutes throughout the postseason.

“Guys have been in and out, more minutes, less minutes,” Tkachuk said. “They’ve really adjusted well, and I love our back end. You need a great D core to win, and we’ve got that. So we’re very lucky to play in front of them.”

A big part of Florida’s balanced attack is that 17 different players have scored over the first two rounds.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have gotten just two goals from their blue line in the series against the Panthers. Only nine Toronto players have found the back of the net at all against the Panthers.

Tkachuk made it clear how much the Panthers’ forward group appreciates playing with their deep and productive defense.

“We’ve got Bob (Sergei Bobrovsky) at the end of the day too. So we’re very lucky as forwards,” Matthew Tkachuk said.

With the series in Florida for Game 6, the Panthers will look to close out the Maple Leafs and advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

Matthew Tkachuk’s comments about flipping the Round 2 series against the Maple Leafs

When asked how the Panthers have been able to flip the series upside down after trailing 2-0 and 3-2 in Game 5, Matthew Tkachuk pointed to simplifying their game and playing a more physical brand of hockey.

“We just probably oversimplified, mixed in a little more physicality. At the end of the playoff hockey is a simple game. We do have a lot of good players but our bread and butter is that simple game,” Tkachuk said.

He noted that while the Panthers are a s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed team, their “bread and butter is that simple game” of chipping pucks deep, finishing checks, and getting to the net. According to Tkachuk, the Panthers relied too much on their s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 early in the series but have gotten back to their gritty, simple style of play just in time.