Skidding Jets get another shot at slowing Panthers’ Tkachuk brothers

In the summer, the Florida Panthers added Brady Tkachuk to a roster that featured his brother Matthew, and so far the sibling combo is a success.

The brothers will try to continue their hot starts when the Panthers play host to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

Through 13 games, Matthew Tkachuk leads the team in assists (16) and points (20). Brady Tkachuk, acquired in a June trade with the Ottawa Senators, tops the Panthers in goals (eight) and is tied for second in points (15).

The Panthers concluded a four-game road trip by beating Winnipeg 5-1 on Tuesday. In that game, Matthew Tkachuk notched four assists, and his brother recorded one goal and two assists.

“Those two are special players,” Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “They have a lot of brother chemistry, I guess. They make good passes to each other, and it’s fun to watch.

“Every night, it seems like they’re doing something I would never even try.”

The Panthers went 3-for-5 on the power play against the Jets.

“Normally you want to win it 5-on-5,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, “but with some of the pieces we’re missing, we need it. (The power play) has won a bunch of games for us this season.”

Those “missing pieces” Maurice mentioned include starting goalie Jacob Markstrom and star forwards Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand.

The Panthers have endured turmoil at the goalie position this calendar year. In July, Sergei Bobrovsky — who won two Stanley Cup titles in seven years with Florida — signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent.

Florida replaced him with Markstrom, who was acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils. However, Markstrom has missed the past four games after getting hit by a puck in practice. He is expected to return next week.

“He’s not far off,” Maurice said on Thursday.

Markstrom’s absence has left Akira Schmid as Florida’s top healthy goalie. The Panthers acquired Schmid from the Vegas Golden Knights in a June trade, signing him to a two-year, $4 million extension. So far, Schmid is 4-2-1 with an .885 save percentage and a 2.99 goals-against average.

He stopped 24 of 25 shots while prevailing at Winnipeg on Tuesday.

The Jets have lost seven consecutive games (0-5-2), including a 6-4 defeat at Tampa Bay on Thursday. Winnipeg trailed 5-1 before scoring three straight goals in the third period, but the Lightning got an empty-net tally to seal the game.

“We’ve got to find a way to get things going in our favor,” Jets forward Adam Lowry said. “We need some consistency in our game. That’s what’s been missing.”

Just two seasons ago, the Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy with an NHL-best 116 points and making it to the second round of the playoffs. Last season, the Jets dropped to just 82 points, finishing seventh in the Central Division while missing the playoffs.

One of the issues for the Jets is a lack of secondary scoring behind forwards Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi. They are Winnipeg’s only three players with double-digit point totals, and no other Jets forward has more than six points.

At the other end of the ice, the Jets made a big move last week when they traded star goalie Connor Hellebuyck to New Jersey. Hellebuyck, who had demanded a trade and had sat out the season until the move was made, won an Olympic gold medal earlier this year as Team USA’s starting goalie. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the league’s top goaltender also was chosen the Hart Trophy winner (most valuable player) in 2024-25.

Stuart Skinner is now Winnipeg’s starting goalie, but he was pulled in favor of Nico Daws on Thursday after allowing five goals on 21 shots in two periods. Daws, acquired in the Hellebuyck deal, stopped all nine shots he faced in his Jets debut.

–Field Level Media