Beginning tonight, all that goodwill and brotherly love built up in the Tkachuk household over the last 21 years is about to be seriously tested.
Rumour has it Brady and Matthew promised their Mom they would never fight but it feels like that promise could be seriously tested in the coming days.
Actually, it feels like a guarantee. Brady Tkachuk’s Ottawa Senators take on Matthew Tkachuk’s Calgary Flames in a stretch that will see the Sens and Flames meet five times in an eleven day span.
Drafted at 6th overall, Matthew Tkachuk is clearly a key piece for this Flames team. With career-highs of 77 points and 34 goals, Tkachuk has quickly become one of the league’s most effective power forwards. And while they have struggled a little bit lately, Matthew is still a presence every night.
Yes, he has a face you’d like to punch. But that’s what makes him so effective.
In Brady Tkachuk, the Senators have a pretty similar player. Drafted a couple spots higher than his older brother, Brady plays the same in your face style. A thorn in the other team’s side, a physical presence and a handful in front of and around the opposition net. And as we saw against the Habs on Tuesday night, Brady is capable of completely taking a game over.
Safe to assume Brady will be looking to put on a show for his older brother over the next eleven days.
Bad news on the injury front earlier this morning as it sounds like Derek Stepan could miss some significant time. Shawn Simpson, who was the first to bring up the Stepan trade in the first place, is suggesting that it’s a shoulder dislocation for Stepan and that surgery could be required.
Expected to miss four to six months in that scenario.
The Senators announced a couple of moves this morning in response. First, they placed Derek Stepan on the IR. Erik Brannstrom and Matthew Peca were recalled from the taxi squad while Logan Brown was brought up from Belleville and placed on the taxi squad.
Though it won’t be tonight, this move certainly suggests Logan Brown is about to get an extended look. He’s missed the last couple games with an injury so they likely want to give him a couple days to get up to speed first but then, the opportunity is there.
Excited to see what he does with it. Really feels like this may be his last chance to prove himself with the Senators.
Reading the line combos from the morning skate, it sounds like this is how Ottawa will line up for this one.
Tkachuk-Norris-C. Brown
Stützle-Anisimov-Batherson
Paul-White-Dadonov
Peca-Tierney-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Reilly-Zub
Brannstrom-Gudbranson
Matt Murray was in the starter’s net at the morning skate.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM. The first Brady Tkachuk hit will happen at about the seven second mark. The game is available on TSN5, Sportsnet West and RDS2.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 9-9-2 (20 pts) | 6-14-1 (13 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.50 (24th) | 2.43 (28th) |
| Goals Against | 2.80 (T-17th) | 4.00 (31st) |
| Power Play | 21.1% (15th) | 13.0% (27th) |
| Penalty Kill | 80.6% (12th) | 75.4% (24th) |
| Shots For | 28.9 (24th) | 32.6 (3rd) |
| Shots Against | 30.7 (20th) | 31.3 (22nd) |
| Leading Scorers | Gaudreau- 18 pts Lindholm- 18 pts Tkachuk- 14 pts Monahan- 14 pts Andersson- 12 pts |
Tkachuk- 15 pts Batherson- 12 pts Norris- 12 pts Brown- 11 pts Stützle – 10 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Jacob Markstrom (TBD) 8-6-1 2.87 GAA, .909 sv% |
Matt Murray (TBD) 4-9-1 3.66 GAA, .883 sv% |
