There are times when Mackie Samoskevich still has to pinch himself when he thinks about where he is right now. At this time a year ago, he was on the tail end of his first full season of professional hockey with the Charlotte Checkers,

Samoskevich notched a power-play assist, took two shots on net and had five hits in Monday's 2-1 win against the Lightning. Samoskevich made the primary pass to linemate Aleksander Barkov on a power-play tally in the second period.

The Florida Panthers are placing Matthew Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve due to a groin injury he suffered in the 4 Nations Face-Off, the team announced Sunday. Tkachuk, 27, has sat out the Panthers' past four games since his injury. Now placed on the LTIR, Tkachuk will be out for a significant period of time.