Bad news for the Oilers: Matthew Tkachuk is back

Frank Seravalli
Frank Seravalli(frank_seravalli)
Bad news for the Oilers: Matthew Tkachuk is back

CALGARY, Alberta — Gongshow. That’s the word Connor McDavid used to describe the last time the Flames and Oilers met in the regular season.

Chaos. That’s what Blake Coleman called Game 1 of the first Battle of Alberta this proud province has seen in 31 years, a wild 15-goal affair that saw a goaltender chased in the first few minutes and a blown four-goal lead.

Gongshow. Chaos. Mayhem. Bedlam. Beautiful.

Whatever word you pick, it’s no wonder that Matthew Tkachuk was in the middle of the madness on Wednesday night.

Heck, his entire family was, as hats rained down at the The ‘Dome to celebrate Tkachuk’s empty netter, which gave him the first Flames playoff hat trick in 26 years.

The Brady Tkachuk Cam has become appointment viewing during the playoffs. How often do you see the captain of another NHL franchise front and center, armed with a beverage in hand and two more in his back pockets, playing the role of supportive brother and superfan?

It’s as unique as Matthew Tkachuk’s game. He’s a 104-point NHL unicorn.

That unicorn was born for this Battle of Alberta – he just didn’t know it when he was born in 1997, six years after their last playoff clash.

And so, as Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft regroups on Thursday, you can add Tkachuk to the list of Game 2 concerns for Edmonton.

It’s a long list. The wonky start from goaltender Mike Smith, the ineffectiveness of injured superstar Leon Draisaitl, the inability to manage a ferocious Flames forecheck, sloppy neutral zone play, the runs taken at Connor McDavid and … how can the Oilers counteract ‘Chucky’?

Because Tkachuk might be the scariest part of the three-headed monster – with Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm – that helped carve the Oilers at even-strength.

Tkachuk is the aggressor on an ultra-aggressive Flames team. He is the tip of the spear. Coleman called him the “heartbeat” of the Flames at the start of the playoffs.

But perhaps the best sign for Calgary in Game 1 was that amid the chaos, Tkachuk displayed another ‘c’ word highlighted by coach Darryl Sutter.

Control.

“There’s some energy to his game. Been emotion,” Sutter said after Game 1. “[But] control, which is good.”

That control, necessary for postseason success, was missing at times in Round 1 against the Dallas Stars. Whatever John Klingberg said seemed to work, because Tkachuk was off his game for a good chunk of that series.

Tkachuk went after Klingberg, appeared to maybe have gotten banged up in the process, and found himself all over Sutter’s lineup as the coach attempted to get him going and puncture the aura of invincibility surrounding goaltender Jake Oettinger.

It took until Games 6 and 7 for Tkachuk to come alive again, collecting three of his six points in the two most critical games of series.

He was in it from puck drop on Wednesday night. And he was his typical self, annoying opponents to no end without putting the Flames in purgatory.

Tkachuk’s chirp of Evander Kane – cameras captured him asking the Oilers’ forward, who has been in bankruptcy court, if he needs money – will make it into a “Best of Tkachuk” montage one day.

It was also a window into Tkachuk at his best. He took one of the Oilers’ top players to the box with him, and the Flames were able to spring him free by using one of the little-known rule wrinkles, in that it’s the captain or coaches’ choice as to who gets out first during concurrent minor penalties.

That was the easiest decision Sutter made all game. It was always going to be throwing Tkachuk back into the wild, where he is most comfortable, thriving on some concoction of adrenaline and chaos.

Just about the only thing that didn’t come up Tkachuk in Game 1 was the decision by his dad, Keith, to not throw his hat onto the ice.

“He probably loved his hat,” Matthew Tkachuk surmised.

If Game 1 was any indication, Big Walt may have another opportunity to throw it in this wild Battle of Alberta that his boy was born to play in.

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