USA’s Brady Tkachuk held out for precautionary reasons after crashing into net vs. Sweden
The status of both Tkachuk brothers is now up in the air for the United States, as winger Brady Tkachuk left Monday’s 2-1 loss to Sweden for precautionary reasons.
Mike Sullivan says Brady Tkachuk was held out more for precautionary reasons after crashing into the net.
Sullivan said Auston Matthews and Charlie McAvoy both have upper-body injuries and didn’t have more to add, other than saying Matthews was “nicked up or banged up.”
Tkachuk sustained the injury during the first period of the game, as on a play that saw him drive the net, he lost his footing and slid into one of the goal posts, appearing to see his lower body make contact with the post. He left the game shortly after, and while he returned to the game later in the period, he played one 14-second shift before leaving the game for good.
According to United States head coach Mike Sullivan, Tkachuk’s departure was precautionary considering that the United States had nothing to play for in the game. The USA had already secured a spot in the championship game on Thursday thanks to two regulation wins over Finland and Canada to start the tournament, so their game against Sweden was nothing more than a formality for them.
Tkachuk’s status for Thursday’s game against Canada is still up in the air, but considering the nature of his exit, he’ll likely be able to play in the game.
The United States had already been dealing with a few injuries heading into Monday’s game, so Tkachuk’s injury has given them a short bench for the remainder of the match. Matthew Tkachuk, Auston Matthews and Charlie McAvoy were already out of the game as a precaution, so the team was going with a lineup of 11 forwards and 6 defensemen, and with Brady Tkachuk out, that brings it down to 10. Vincent Trocheck also left the game for a stretch in the first period, giving USA just nine healthy forwards, but he was since returned to the game.
Tkachuk had been having an excellent tournament before the injury, with 2 goals in the opening game against Finland, and was a part of one of the three fights at the start of Saturday’s game against Canada.
The Ottawa Senators will also hope that Tkachuk’s injury isn’t serious, as they will hope to have their captain back healthy as they fight for their first playoff appearance since 2017. Tkachuk has seen his struggles with the Sens this season, as he has just 21 goals and 23 assists for 44 points in 56 games.