Brady Tkachuk’s impact during Senators’ playoff push cannot be overstated
The smell of victory in March, that had long become a foreign concept for Ottawa Senators fans, is back.
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Ottawa—The smell of victory in March, which had long become a foreign concept for Ottawa Senators fans, is back.
The lead catalyst for their winning (Sens)ation has been captain Brady Tkachuk.
“He’s everything you’d want in a young captain,” said coach Travis Green post-game in New Jersey.
It was always forecasted that thanks to his family lineage, Tkachuk would make his presence known in the “big” games; but now it’s becoming reality as Tkachuk has thrust his team towards the playoffs.
“I know there will be a really good response Saturday,” said Tkachuk after losing two games in a row.
He was right.
On Saturday night, Tkachuk led the way, scoring the opening goal to propel his team out of their mini slump, by securing an important 3-2 win over New Jersey.
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Unfortunately, this season, the Senators’ aspirations might tragically rest on one man’s hip. Earlier this week, Tkachuk reiterated that he was 100 percent. However, Tkachuk has been dealing with a tweaked hip that was aggravated at the Four Nations Faceoff and forced him to miss a couple games following the tournament.
In the first period, worry set in as Tkachuk laboured to the bench after appearing to have re-aggravated the injury.
It wasn’t clear if Tkachuk would return. Losses piling up without Tkachuk felt imaginable during the first intermission. Not a pretty picture.
Tkachuk has been preaching a “Game 7” approach for his team, which encompasses playing through pain.
Fortunately for the Senators and Tkachuk, he pushed through. He returned in the second period only to immediately deflect home a goal that shifted the momentum of the game in Ottawa’s favour.
It’s not the first time.
Tkachuk has been a regular season version of a “Game 7” hero. When Ottawa fell below .500 for the first time in November, Tkachuk won the game in overtime in Boston. A month later, Ottawa jumped back into a playoff spot when Tkachuk once again won it in overtime vs. Pittsburgh. Finally, in Ottawa’s biggest game of the season to that point, against the New York Rangers in March … you know the rest.
And let’s not forget, Tkachuk scoring in the final of the Four Nations.
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Tkachuk has 11 overtime winners in his career, more than his entire family combined while four of them have been this season. Tkachuk is also tied for the most game-winning goals with five on the Senators this season, and he has recorded six straight seasons with over 200 shots and 200 hits; no other player has accomplished that feat once in that period.
In the last 10 games before Saturday, the Senators were 0-2-0 when Tkachuk didn’t produce a point and 7-0-1 when he did.
It’s not a perfect statistic, but it embodies Tkachuk’s importance.
The Senators’ record when Tkachuk earns a point.
This season: 25-11-4
Career: 155-100-17
But why did it take seven seasons for the Senators to win consistently with Tkachuk?
Well, first, they didn’t have good surrounding pieces for the first half of his time in the nation’s capital. Second, he needed to mature as a player. Tkachuk wears his emotions on his sleeve, embodied in how pumped he was after sending New York home earlier this month, saying “Let’s Go” in his post-game interview. In the past, Tkachuk would sometimes lose his cool and occasionally fight at the wrong time. But after losing twice this week, Tkachuk preached that there was “no panic”. What’s noticeably different this time around is the composure, which affects the entire team. Tkachuk is on pace for his fewest number of fights per season since before the pandemic. I guess, the fighting will be left to Tim Stutzle.
“There’s just a different feel around here. There’s just a different mindset,” said Tkachuk earlier this week.
In both the first and second periods, Tkachuk tracked back to squash New Jersey rush attempts. Before the season, Tkachuk told Sportsnet.ca that he wanted to be a “shutdown” player, and he’s improved as one.
Tkachuk ranks 140th among 658 players in terms of expected goals allowed per game, according to Evolving Hockey. Defence wins playoff races. (Let’s work on that one).
He also missed some shifts in the Devils game after appearing to re-aggravate an injury and only played 13:23, his lowest ice time of the season.
What looms are further questions about Tkachuk’s health, but not his impact.
Adams Apples
Fabian Zetterlund played his first full game on a line with Stutzle and Tkachuk and it was effective. “Quadzilla” was what Tkachuk affectionately called Zetterlund pre-game for his 600-pound deadlifts. Those quads were on display when Zetterlund used his frame to shove a defender away from Tkachuk in front of the net, allowing Tkachuk the space to score his goal. On the broadcast, Sportsnet’s Sean Reynolds said Green liked Zetterlund’s speed on that line, because he believed he would facilitate Stutzle’s rush opportunities at five-on-five. It worked.
The trio was outstanding, carrying shot attempts seven to five with an expected goals share of 51.6 percent. In San Jose, the Sharks outscored opponents 42-28 at five-on-five with Zetterlund on the ice this season. No other Shark has had a positive plus-minus at five-on-five.
General manager Steve Staios brought in Zetterlund as an impact player, and he should be. Zetterlund wasn’t going to be a fourth liner forever; now he’s in a role more suited for a player on pace for back-to-back 20 goal seasons.
Dylan Cozens’ chemistry with Drake Batherson has been such a revelation. The two combined again on Saturday, with Cozens feeding Batherson, showing how it seems like whoever leaves Buffalo gets their ammo back on new ice. Cozens has a point in seven of his first eight games in Ottawa.
Statistics before Saturday’s game
Shoutout to Thomas Chabot who played his 500th game on Saturday. A consummate professional who is beloved by teammates. “I definitely look up to him,” said Jake Sanderson about Chabot. Chabot has been an integral part of the success of the turnaround this season as he ranks 23rd in the league in “wins above replacement” according to Evolving Hockey.
Finally, when Sportsnet.ca went to interview Sanderson earlier this week, Sanderson jokingly suggested that instead, they should interview his locker-mate Tyler Kleven about the “branch story”. Kleven laughed it off.
For context, Kleven was hit by a branch during a team dinner in Dallas earlier this season as Batherson revealed on the Coming in Hot Podcast.
