Florida Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk briefly left Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after a knee-on-knee collision late in the first period with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. Tkachuk returned about two minutes into the second period to a roaring round of applause from the home crowd.

Florida Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk exited with a lower-body injury after a knee-on-knee collision with Tampa Bay Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla. With 3:09 remaining in the first period and Florida trailing 3-0 on the back end of a home-and-home series,

Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk had to be helped off the ice and taken to the locker room following a first-period collision with Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov in Monday's 4-0 loss, but he later returned in the second period to a standing ovation.