A trio of Panthers players played through several brutal injuries in the playoffs

The Florida Panthers came up short against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals, losing in 5 games to Vegas, who won their first franchise Stanley Cup in just 6 years. Unfortunately, the Panthers had to play Game 5 without arguably their most important player in Matthew Tkachuk. Why? Well, he fractured his sternum/collar bone/S.I. joint in Game 3. He actually played Game 4 with these injuries, but couldn't manage to make it into Game 5, as much as it must have been killing him.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice revealed following last night's loss that Tkachuk's pain levels and range of motion were so bad that he couldn't equip himself for Game 4, tie his skates or pull his jersey over his own head, so his teammates did it for him.

Even more unfortunately for the Panthers, Tkachuk's wasn't the only significant injury for the Panthers, as Brandon Montour played through a torn labrum, according to NHL insider Kevin Weekes, which will require surgery this summer. He is expected to be sidelined for the next 3 months.

In addition, Aaron Ekblad, who didn't quite look himself in these playoffs, had a pretty good reason for looking a little bit off. He actually broke his foot during the 1st round, played through a pair of shoulder dislocations and tore his oblique.

As Leaf fans, we have no love lost for the Panthers, but even for the most passionate Leaf fans, I don't think any one of us will be questioning the heart of Tkachuk, Montour and Ekblad, having endured what they did in these playoffs.