Game 3 Showed Why Matthew Tkachuk Is The Key For Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers are still very much alive in this year's Stanley Cup Final, and on Thursday night, we saw why they need Hart Trophy candidate Matthew Tkachuk for every second they can get out of him.

After a rough showing during Games 1 and 2 in Vegas in which Tkachuk scored one goal, but landed 36 penalty minutes, Game 3 looked like a much-needed reset.

Tkachuk's playing time was slightly limited once again. This time, however, it wasn't through a lack of discipline. It came courtesy of a bone-crunching check from Vegas' Keegan Kolesar.

That check left Tkachuk doing a Bambi impression back to the bench. He took one more shift then retreated to the Cats' locker room.

Fortunately for Florida, he returned later in the game.

After trailing 2-1 for virtually the entire third period, Tkachuk, as he has done so many times this postseason, came up clutch to send the game to OT.

Carter Verhaeghe then kept the Panthers' hopes alive with the game-winner that cut Vegas' series lead in half.

Notice who was snooping around the front of the net? Yup; No. 19.

There were some serious highs and lows for Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, (Getty Images)

Tkachuk Seemed To Change His Approach For The Better In Game 3

The hard-nosed, toeing-the-line of decency style that has made Tkachuk the "Rat King" usually works. However, against a disciplined team like the Vegas Golden Knights — the least penalized in the league this season — it backfires.

Matthew Tkachuk needed to switch things up with the series shifting to Florida and it seems he did just that.

He ended the night with a goal and an assist and was on the ice for the game-winner. He finished the night with a +/- rating of +3 after playing just under 18 minutes.

Perhaps most importantly, he didn't land in the sin bin at all.

Tkachuk is the X-factor the Panthers need. This is why his antics in the first two games weren't beneficial. He kept his cool after Kolesar lit him up and played a role in each of his team's goals whether or not that appears on the scoresheet.

This was the recalibration Tkachuk needed to make if the Panthers want a chance of coming back from 2-0. Game 4 is Saturday night in Sunrise, and if he continues this trend, I wouldn't be shocked at all to see the Cup Final morph into a best-of-3 series beginning with Game 5 in Las Vegas.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle