After a crushing Game 4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Florida Panthers received an unfortunate injury update regarding the heart and soul of their team in Matthew Tkachuk.

Speculation of an injury for Tkachuk has grown since he was on the receiving end of a crushing hit in Game 3, where Tkachuk was launched backward by Vegas winger Keegan Kolesar. Tkachuk landed awkwardly on his shoulder joint, and has been limited in shifts from that moment on.

Tkachuk attempted to deny the rumors of an injury stemming from the big Game 3 hit, as is standard practice in the NHL. It is a league that does not like to give the opposition any knowledge or advantages on the status of players. When asked about the play, he said “that's just not going to come out right now.”

Even despite the injury, Tkachuk was able to get back on the ice late in Game 3 and score the goal that would eventually send the contest to overtime. However, it was tough to ignore that Tkachuk played just 16 minutes and 40 seconds in Game 4, and had just four shifts in the third period, even as he nearly netted a game-tying goal late in the period again.

Paul Maurice also remarked on the injury speculation surrounding Tkachuk in his postgame presser. “We got two days off to assess that. Get some good rest and we'll make that decision… Matthew's been a grinder his whole life, and he was again tonight,” said Maurice.

With the Panthers now on the ropes after Saturday nights' loss, Florida will use their two days of rest to assess their star and his ability to go for Game 5. Down 3-1, it is win or go home on Tuesday in Las Vegas. The assumption is that Florida will try to get as much out of Tkachuk as possible, but how much that will equate to remains to be seen.