OSTRAVA, Czechia – Brady Tkachuk is doing his best to follow his older brother’s latest Stanley Cup Playoff appearance with the Florida Panthers while representing Team USA at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
“I just [see] that’s when I wake up the next morning,” the Ottawa Senators captain said on Saturday at the tournament, where he is captain of the USA. “That’s the crazy, hard part about the time change. I do my best to watch and follow along, but it’s very difficult for us to rest and prepare for the games here.”
Matthew Tkachuk is in the midst of his second consecutive stint with the Florida Panthers. After helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final last season, the 26-year-old is third in the NHL postseason, scoring this time with 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in eight games.
He’s also doing his part for the Panthers in other ways; Brady said he was able to catch the highlights and was a fan of the brief exchange between Matthew and Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak on Wednesday, an eventual 6-1 victory for the Panthers in Game 2 of the second round of the Conference East. The two offensively gifted wingers dropped the gloves at 12:42 of the third period.
Each was assessed as a serious fight and misconduct.
“I loved it, Brady said.
Tkachuk ranked second on the Panthers during the regular season with 88 points (26 goals, 62 assists) in 80 games, but also had 88 penalty minutes. He had 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 20 playoff games last season, as Florida reached the Cup Final before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
Pastrnak had 47 penalty minutes during the regular season; it was his second NHL fight and first since 2018. The 27-year-old ranked fifth in the League during the regular season with 110 points (47 goals, 63 assists) in 82 games. He has seven points (three goals, four assists) in 10 games this postseason.
“When you have a guy who does that, there’s a huge amount of respect in putting your body on the line like that,” said Brady, who has six major fights and 134 penalty minutes this season. “Whenever a guy does that, there’s a lot of respect. Not many guys are willing to do that.”
Florida holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series after a 6-2 victory in Game 3 on Friday. Game 4 will be in Boston on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS).
Brady offered no advice on how the opposition should handle his brother’s advance.
“I’m always on his side, so I’m not going to give him any tips,” he said.
