Matthew Tkachuk caught in unexpected situation with 6 games to go!

The Florida Panthers aren’t sure to make the postseason as they sit one point back of an Eastern Conference wild-card slot with six games to go. And that’s not what star forward Matthew Tkachuk expected when he was traded to Miami.

“I’ve never been in this position where we’re like the one team on the outside fighting for the last, last spot,” Tkachuk told ESPN on Wednesday. “I’ve either been out of the playoffs with x-many games left, or you’re in first place. I’ve been in the playoffs for most of my career, so I still have that itch and that drive and a hunger to make it. We have to do it. Have to. We’ve got to keep turning the page.”

It does not appear that Tkachuk has lost faith that the Panthers will be able to make it. The forward has pulled his weight putting up top-10 numbers in the league and has been doing everything he can to make sure he plays in the postseason even during the stretch in which the Panthers dropped four consecutive games before topping the Maple Leafs in overtime Wednesday.

“Oh, we’ve fought,” Tkachuk said. “We’ve fought from 10 points back to get ourselves in the mix. Just to be in the race at the end of the year, that’s all you want. That’s all you can ask for. But it’s hard to make the playoffs. I just think back to how around Christmas and early January we were not in a great spot standings-wise, and the fact that we’ve been able to fight our way back to being in the hunt here, it’s really good to be able to do that.”

Tkachuk may not like the unexpected scenario he finds himself into, but he keeps focused on the last six games on the schedule to make sure he and the Panthers don’t go out soon to play golf.

“I know that it will help our team if I’m playing and I’m going. I have to get back to my game. I haven’t maybe had my best last couple of games, but I still feel like my best hockey is yet to come. So hopefully I get a chance to show that here and help us make playoffs.”

Do you think Florida will clinch a spot in the coming weeks?

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