Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk, who missed the last 25 games of the regular season due to injury, scored a pair of goals in his return as Florida beat Tampa Bay in Game 1 of the opening round.

Matthew Tkachuk had two power-play goals and an assist in his first game after a two-month absence and the Florida Panthers opened defense of their Stanley Cup title with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night in the first game of the teams' first-round playoff series.

Tkachuk hadn’t played since Feb. 15, when he sustained a lower-body injury when playing for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off. But he scored two power-play goals in his first NHL game in more than two months,