Brady Tkachuk's nightmare start in Florida just got even worse as he is still pointless after five games

Brady Tkachuk has now gone without a point in all five games to start his Panthers career, and Saturday's home opener didn't change that.

Florida lost 4-1 to Minnesota, with Matthew Tkachuk scoring the lone goal for the Panthers.

Brady finished with 1 shot on goal and a minor penalty in 17:34 of ice time.

He did make his presence felt physically, laying a solid check on Kirill Kaprizov that touched off a scrum.

According to Gino Hard, the drought stretches back into last season with Ottawa, playoffs included.

Five games is a small sample. But Florida didn't send a pick package to Ottawa for a forward who leaves the scoresheet blank, and the patience has a shelf life.

A scorer in a drought is like a pitcher who can't find the strike zone. The stuff is still there, but every miss makes the next pitch harder.

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The Brady Tkachuk trade is already raising major questions in Florida

The Panthers visit the Senators on Oct. 21, and that building will have plenty to say.

He now sits at -3 on an $8,208,714 cap hit, and right now the production isn't matching the price.

Sam Reinhart is in the same boat, still pointless on an $8,625,000 cap hit.

Florida has scored just 9 goals through five games, so the Tkachuk brothers can't be the only answer.

Matthew has 3 goals, including a game-winner, and he's carrying the offense almost by himself.

Sam Bennett has chipped in 3 assists, but he's still looking for his first goal.

The injuries make it worse. Aleksander Barkov is out until at least Nov 27, and Brad Marchand until at least Nov 21.

Does Paul Maurice move Brady up or down the lineup to shake something loose?

The Panthers are 2-1-2 and head to Buffalo on Monday afternoon before visiting Columbus on Tuesday.

That back-to-back gives him two more cracks at ending this before the trip to Ottawa. If it's still at zero by then, the Senators crowd will make sure he hears about it.

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