Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk's talks Game 3 chaos: 'If you have to take a punch in the face, take it'

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman discusses the upcoming playoffs and the future success of professional hockey on ‘Special Report.’

Matthew Tkachuk is no stranger to fighting on the main stage.

In arguably the biggest hockey game in years, Tkachuk, as a member of Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, dropped the gloves against Team Canada right at the opening faceoff.

Late Monday night, he found himself in yet another brouhaha, this one involving just about everyone on the ice for his Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, both of which have other players involved in those USA-Canada fights.

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Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, #19, puts a rat on the stick after the third period against the Edmonton Oilers in game three of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

As Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final got out of hand (the Panthers walloped Edmonton, 6-1, to take a 2-1 series lead), things got chippy, and the Panthers knew it would likely get worse.

Tkachuk, who has found himself in similar situations before, saw the writing on the wall and wanted his team prepared.

"We talked about it in the third. If you have to take a punch in the face, take a punch in the face. If you have to take a cross-check, take a cross-check. Spear, slash in the face, whatever the case is, you’ve got to take it," Tkachuk said after the contest.

At one point, Tkachuk took a share of punches to the face from Jake Walman - all while he was being held by John Klinberg.

The game was already 5-1 in favor of Florida when things were getting more aggressive on the ice. It reached a different level when Edmonton forward Trent Federic started to pick on Sam Bennett (who