Matthew Tkachuk Flattened By Unnecessary Blindside Hit

During last night's game against the Minnesota Wild Matthew Tkachuk took a scary hit along the boards. He was leveled away from the play on a blindside hit from Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno.

Foligno was immediately called for an interference penalty which sent the Panthers to the powerplay.

The Florida Panthers would go on to be shut out by the Minnesota Wild. The 2-0 loss was not the start the Panthers envisioned. After taking down the record-breaking juggernaut that was the Boston Bruins last year many had high hopes for the Panthers. These high hopes are centered around the play of Matthew Tkachuk.

Tkachuk luckily escaped the game without being injured on that hit. He was pretty quiet in the game though. If the Panthers are going to make a playoff run like many expect Tkachuk will have to get back to his MVP-like level from last season.

While it's still early in the season the Panthers need to get back on track as soon as they can to stay in the eventual playoff race in the loaded Eastern Conference.