Team USA couldn’t pull out the overtime winner against Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off, and a huge reason for that may have come during the second period. Despite remaining on the bench, key United States forward Matthew Tkachuk didn’t play a single shift after the 16:38 mark of the second frame. For the entirety of the third period and overtime, Tkachuk sat glued to the United States bench.
Tkachuk was clearly entering the championship game at less than 100%. He took himself out of the first meeting between Team USA and Team Canada during the round-robin stage and didn’t play the following game.
Knowing the kind of competitor Tkachuk is, and his history of playing through gruesome injuries, something serious must be ailing him. It’s not like Tkachuk to take himself out of such a heated rivalry game when only up by a goal, then get tethered to the bench in the championship game.
Tkachuk played through Stanley Cup Final games with a fractured sternum in 2023. His compete level and drive to help his team is off the charts.
His brother, Brady, spoke on Matthew’s injury following the loss to Canada, and it doesn’t sound promising for the Florida Panthers.
I asked Brady Tkachuk about Matthew's injury. Doesn't sound good for the #flapanthers: "Obviously he battles through absolutely everything, and, yeah, I don't think it's too good. I guess we'll have to wait and see what ends up happening, but I know he was really disappointed."
"Obviously he battles through absolutely everything, and, yeah, I don't think it's too good,” Brady said. “I guess we'll have to wait and see what ends up happening, but I know he was really disappointed."
Following the first matchup with the Canadians, head coach Mike Sullivan said Tkachuk was dealing with a lower-body injury. Tkachuk missed the final round-robin game against Sweden to continue healing, but he clearly never reach 100%.
After the loss in the championship game, Sullivan didn’t add any new information regarding Tkachuk and his injury but did speak on what it meant to still have him on the bench.
“Matthew Tkachuk has an impact on our team in such a way that even if he wasn’t 100 percent and we weren’t able to utilize him for a lot of the game, his presence on the bench and in the locker room means so much to this group,” Sullivan said. “He’s all heart. He’s a heart-and-soul guy. So is his brother. I think these guys were such a huge part of the leadership group.”
It'll be up to the Panthers to clear the air on Tkachuk’s injury. It seems unlikely that he’ll be ready to go in their first game back following the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The Panthers return to game action Saturday, hosting the Seattle Kraken.
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