Matthew Tkachuk Did His Best Paul Kariya Impression Last Night, Which Reminds Us Of The Best Stanley Cup Final Moment Ever. Off The Floor, On The Board
Every single current player in the NHL is as lucky as you can be that their career never crossed paths with Scott Stevens. More specifically, that their skulls never crossed paths with Scott Stevens along the blue line. That man was a killer, whether you think he was a complete and total scumbag or not. If he caught you with your head down near the blue line, you were as good as done. Draw a line of chalk around the body because you're a dead man.
Now there might not be a Scott Stevens in the league currently, and there probably never will be. But a guy like Keegan Kolesar still throws a heavy body. And this hit he caught Matthew Tkachuk with enough to make him forget where he was at for a second there.
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This look from Tkachuk was a "holy fuck, what just happened" face.
To Matthew Tkachuk's credit, he popped right back up because he's a hockey player. His legs weren't necessarily working, but he still popped right up to head to the locker room. In 2023 with how cautious everybody is when it comes to head injuries, you'd imagine there were probably some doctors in that locker room who wanted Tkachuk to call it a night. But again, he's a hockey player. It's the Stanley Cup Final. He's not going to stay out of a game just because he doesn't know what the date is anymore. So he comes back out in the 3rd period and what does he do?
Ties the game with the goalie pulled and just over 2 minutes left in regulation. If Tkachuk isn't out there to stuff home that goal, the Panthers are down in the 3-0 chokehold just waiting for this series to be over. A goal there sends the game to overtime, and Carter Verhaeghe makes it a series with the OT winner. All because Matthew Tkachuk went full Paul Kariya. Off the floor, on the board.
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There have been some monster overtime goals scored in Stanley Cup Final history. There have been plenty of ridiculous saves, and countless moments that will live on forever. But for my money, none of them are better than Paul Kariya in game 6 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Final. To get borderline homicided by Scott Stevens like that, have the ability to skate himself off the ice, and return to the game later that period and blast one by arguably the best goalie ever? It doesn't get any better than that. Undersized but massive heart and massive balls. Paul Kariya was nails.
And while the Kolesar hit on Tkachuk may not have been quite as devastating as Stevens on Kariya, Matthew Tkachuk still has similar sized heart and balls. And that's what it takes to win in the Stanley Cup Finals. Massive heart, giant balls, can't lose.
Sidenote: Yes, I wrote a similar blog about Eichel earlier in the series. But this time Tkachuk actually scored a goal after coming back to the game. Eichel just picked up an assist. So advantage goes to Tkachuk.