“Chucky,” captain Aleksander Barkov said, “welcome back.”

Matthew Tkachuk returned to the Florida Panthers' lineup and helped his team to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Matthew Tkachuk had two power-play goals and an assist in his first game after a two-month absence and the Florida Panthers opened defense of their Stanley Cup title with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night in the first game of the first-round playoff series.