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TAMPA, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk made his long-awaited return to the lineup and was back to his old self quickly on Tuesday night for the Florida Panthers, who opened this postseason the way they ended last postseason: With a win.

Playing for the first time in more than two months after dealing with a lower-body injury, Tkachuk scored two second-period goals in his return game, as the Panthers handled the rival Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 in this Eastern Conference first-round series opener at Amalie Arena.

Those two goals were both of the power-play variety, the first putting Florida up 4-1 — the second goal for the Panthers in a 14-second span — and the next one pushing the lead to 5-1 midway through the second period.

It was just like old times: Tkachuk got twisted up with Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel — someone he fought during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament — after one whistle, took the game’s first penalty on a roughing call (leading to Tampa Bay’s first goal), then made sure his name was all over the score sheet.

Florida coach Paul Maurice, in his in-game, bench interview with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, said he was comfortable with what he was seeing from Tkachuk in his first game back and expected him to “be the difference-maker” for the Panthers.

“That’s what he is for us,” Maurice said. “He’s got an incredible set of hands, got an incredible gift for the emotional needs of a game, when you need a hit, when you need a big play. He’s been great for us.”

Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers, and veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt, not known for his offense, added two more goals, as Florida, which won the Stanley Cup last June, hammered an Atlantic Division foe in front of a sellout crowd, setting up an all-important Game 2 on Thursday.

Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will need to be sharper in that game, after a Tuesday performance to forget. The two-time Stanley Cup winner allowed all six goals on just 16 shots, closing with a .625 save percentage. Across the ice, Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves en route to the win.

“The series isn’t won in one game, so there’s a positive. We had a bunch of guys tonight playing their first playoff games, and I thought guys handled it fairly well,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “But in the end, we gave up six goals. We’re a pretty decent defensive team, and we have a very good [penalty-kill unit], and we gave up three [goals] on that. … In the end, those are areas of strength of ours, so I’m pretty confident we can button those up, and we’ll be OK.”

Jake Guentzel, in his first season with the club, and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay. But the Lightning played the final 33:30 without center Anthony Cirelli, and it showed. There was no immediate word why the 27-year-old center was out.

“We gave up 16 shots, and that’s usually a good night, but tonight wasn’t that. They’re a good team, we know they have good players,” Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said. “So, for us, it’s all about refocusing, make sure we have a good practice tomorrow, and get ready for the next one.”

Whether Tkachuk would even play in Game 1 wasn’t certain until just before game time. Tkachuk went through practices Saturday and Monday, then took part in the team’s day-of-game skate Tuesday before the decision on his return was made. Maurice even indicated that it could come down to the final few minutes before the 8:48 p.m. start time of the game.

“It’s not really a guy you can put a label on,” Schmidt said of Tkachuk. “He’s such a unicorn of a player. But, more than anything, just how he is in the room, getting the guys fired up for the game, you feel his energy, you feel his excitement.”

Tkachuk hadn’t played for the Panthers since Feb. 8 because of a lower-body injury suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament two months ago. He missed the team’s final 25 games of the regular season, yet still finished with 22 goals and 57 points — third most on the team in all three categories. He was also second on the Panthers this season with 11 power-play goals.

“There’s no better time to be an athlete,” Tkachuk told Kaplan in a postgame interview, in reference to the postseason. “This is the time of our lives. And just getting a win here in Game 1 is the cherry on top.”

Panthers forward Brad Marchand, acquired at the NHL trade deadline from the Boston Bruins, made his postseason debut for his new team in the win and also played with Tkachuk for the first time. Marchand had an assist and two shots on net in his 17:15 of ice time, and seemed to fit right in with Florida’s dominant forward group.

“Both teams will look at the tape and find things that they can do better,” Maurice said after the win. “But there isn’t an established identity to the series yet.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Cecconi loses no-hit bid in 8th as Guardians roll

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Cecconi loses no-hit bid in 8th as Guardians roll

CLEVELAND — Slade Cecconi took a bid to end Cleveland‘s long no-hitter drought into the eighth inning, and the Guardians rolled to a 10-2 win over Kansas City on Monday night and leapfrogged the Royals in the AL wild-card race.

Cecconi (6-6) was six outs from the first no-hitter in the majors this season — and Cleveland’s first since Len Barker’s perfect game in 1981 — when Kansas City’s Michael Massey singled leading off the eighth.

On Cecconi’s 95th pitch, Massey lined a 2-1 fastball into left-center. The right-hander received a nice ovation from the crowd in Progressive Field before Cecconi got Carter Jensen to hit into a double play.

Cleveland (73-70) won its fourth straight game and moved past the Royals (73-71) into second place in the AL Central. Cleveland entered the four-game series 2½ games behind Seattle for the third and final wild-card spot.

Kyle Manzardo, Daniel Schneemann and Nolan Jones had two RBIs apiece for Cleveland, which set season highs with 16 hits and seven doubles.

The Guardians tagged Ryan Bergert (2-2) for four doubles and six runs in the fourth inning while opening an 8-0 lead. C.J. Kayfus, Brayan Rocchio, Schneemann and Jones hit the doubles.

Royals All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was not in the starting lineup for the third straight game due to back spasms. Manager Matt Quatraro said Witt ran and did some fielding before the game without any issues and was a possibility to see “game action.”

Witt didn’t get in but is expected to play Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Phillies expect Turner (hamstring) back by playoffs

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Phillies expect Turner (hamstring) back by playoffs

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies star shortstop Trea Turner was placed on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 strained right hamstring but is expected back by the postseason.

Manager Rob Thomson said before Monday’s game against the New York Mets the MRI results were “better than expected” and that Turner’s injury wasn’t as severe as the strained left hamstring that sidelined him for six weeks last season.

Turner left Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins in the seventh inning because of the injury.

Turner hit a solo homer in the sixth to narrow Philadelphia’s deficit to 4-2. When his turn came again in the seventh, Turner legged out a grounder and reached on a throwing error by Miami shortstop Otto Lopez.

“It was just kind of grabbing on me. It didn’t feel good,” Turner said Sunday. “I felt if I could have kept going, I would have.”

The 32-year-old leads the National League in both batting average (.305) and hits (179) this season.

Without Turner at the top of lineup against the Mets, two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper was batting leadoff for the first time since 2022.

The Phillies also placed 2024 All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm on the 10-day IL with a left shoulder injury.

“He’s been grinding with this left shoulder for a while now, fighting through it. It’s probably been 10 days,” Thomson said of Bohm. “He could feel it every once in a while in a swing. Yesterday he felt it on every swing, so we decided to shut this thing down.”

The Phillies recalled infielder/outfielder Otto Kemp and infielder Donovan Walton from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill Turner’s and Bohm’s spots on the roster.

Kemp was starting at third base against the Mets.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Brewers OF Yelich returns after 5-game absence

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Brewers OF Yelich returns after 5-game absence

ARLINGTON, Texas — Christian Yelich returned to the lineup for the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night after their designated hitter missed five games because of lower back soreness.

Yelich batted fourth as the Brewers opened a three-game series at the playoff-chasing Texas Rangers.

The 33-year-old Yelich had played in 132 of Milwaukee’s 144 games this season before the opener in Texas, and was hitting .268 with team highs of 27 home runs and 92 RBIs. He played in only 73 games last year before season-ending back surgery that August.

“Feels good, wants to play. It’s an amazing thing that he’s played so many games,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Coming off back surgery, we just didn’t know what we were going to get, but the surgeon has assured him this is going to happen, but it’s amazing that it hadn’t happened yet, so we have to be thankful.”

Yelich was a late scratch last Wednesday before a 6-3 win over Philadelphia, and Murphy said then that Yelich had started experiencing some pain during a series against Arizona late last month. He still appeared in 22 consecutive games before coming out of the lineup last week.

“He came to me today and said, ‘I’m in there, right?’,” Murphy said. “He wants to play. That’s a good thing when your leader wants to get in there as soon as possible.”

Yelich made his 112th start at DH on Monday, and has also started 18 games in left field this season. Murphy said while “there’s a reason” to get Yelich a couple of games in the outfield before the end of the regular season, the manager said that’s not a priority.

In other injury news, right-hander Grant Anderson came off the injured list to boost the Brewers’ bullpen.

Right-hander Craig Yoho was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.

Anderson last pitched for Milwaukee on Aug. 23 before going on the injured list with tendinitis in his right ankle. The 28-year-old owns a 2-5 record and 2.87 earned run average in 57 appearances. He has struck out 66 over 62⅔ innings.

The Brewers still have All-Star closer Trevor Megill (right flexor), left-hander DL Hall (right oblique) and right-handers Nick Mears (back) and Shelby Miller (right elbow) on the injured list.

Murphy said Megill is scheduled to throw a simulated game Tuesday, and then would likely throw another one before being able to pitch again.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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