<
        >

          Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk explains his unique OT goal celebrations

          • Greg Wyshynski, ESPNMay 21, 2023, 07:29 AM ET
            Close
              Greg Wyshynski is ESPN's senior NHL writer.
            Follow on X

          RALEIGH, N.C. -- Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk lets everyone know when it's time to leave the rink after scoring his overtime goals.

          In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, Tkachuk scored with 13 seconds remaining in quadruple overtime, the sixth-longest Stanley Cup playoff game in NHL history. In Game 2 on Saturday night, he needed only one minute and 51 seconds to score a power-play goal in the first overtime to give Florida a 2-0 series lead.

          But after scoring both of those goals, he literally tells his team it's time to leave the rink: Tkachuk immediately and emphatically pointed toward the exit door of the rink, sprinting toward it and leading his team off the ice and to the dressing room for their celebration.

          No playing to the crowd. No sliding along the ice while pumping his fists. Not even the goal celebration in Game 5 against the Boston Bruins in the first round, when he circled to center ice and was mobbed by his teammates.

          Just a mad dash for the exit.

          Tkachuk called it "the old 'bus in 10 [minutes]' celebration" after Game 2.

          "Let's get out of here. It's been a lot of hockey the last two games," he said.

          Tkachuk said the celebration just came to him in the moment after his goal in the fourth overtime of Game 1. In Game 2, Tkachuk and his teammates were already near the rink's exit door in the corner after he scored on the power play. He went straight to the door and waited there for it to be opened.

          "We were already there, so I guess I said, 'It's a lot of hockey. Let's go. Let's get off the ice, take off the skates,'" he said.

          Panthers coach Paul Maurice said it was a goal celebration he hadn't seen before.

          "I got what he was doing," he said. "We walk into the rink tonight and it feels like we never left. We've been in this rink a lot and I think we're just pretty happy to be up two [games] and get out of here."

          Tkachuk now has seven goals in the playoffs, leading the Panthers to within two wins of their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1996. Game 3 is Monday night in Sunrise, Florida.

          "I can't wait. It's been so fun playing there all year. I'm sure it's going to be the loudest [building] on Monday," he said.