How Rangers forward, Tkachuk brothers plotted Team USA ambush of Canada at 4 Nations Face-Off
New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller and the Tkachuk brothers, Matthew of the Florida Panthers and Brady of the Ottawa Senators, prepared themselves ahead of time to help Team USA send a message to Team Canada in their 4 Nations Face-Off showdown at Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday night.
“The message we wanted to send is: It’s our time. We’re in a hostile environment, and we wanted to show that we’re not backing down,” Matthew Tkachuk said after the Americans secured their spot in the championship game by defeating their archrivals 3-1.
“It’s just a group of guys that are fired up to play their biggest rivals in this type of environment, so we had an absolute blast from the start.”
There were hits – 34 by the Americans, 29 by Canada. There were two goals by Jake Guentzel sandwiched around the game-winner by Dylan Larkin in the second period. There were 25 saves by Connor Hellebuyck, who did nothing to dampen his stature as the best goaltender in the NHL.
But what the sellout crowd of 21,105 will remember most is the first nine seconds of the game, when Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk and Miller helped set the tone for the U.S.
The puck had barely hit the ice when Matthew Tkachuk squared off with Brandon Hagel. Those two had barely sat down in the penalty box when younger brother Brady and Matthew’s Panthers’ teammate, Sam Bennett, squared off. Six seconds after that, it was Miller’s turn, as he got into a battle with Canadian defenseman Colton Parayko.
“There’s definitely a tone to be set in a game like that,” Miller said. “Having the brothers do that, it’s just exciting.
“I think that’s a good way to get the team to buy in early, and I thought we played a hell of a game from start to finish.”
Fighting used to be a common occurrence in the NHL – back in the late 1980s, the average was about one fight per game. But that’s not the case these days; there’s roughly one fight in every 4.5 games. Seeing three fights in less than 10 seconds sent the crowd into a frenzy.
“To us, this is as big of a game as it gets,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “I mean, this is what you dream about, a chance to knock off Canada in Canada, like I said, on a Saturday night in Montreal, in that type of environment. It was incredible. It was fun to start like that.”
Miller, a rare 100-point scorer who also plays a physical game and can hold his own after dropping the gloves, loved it.
“That was pretty fun,” he said. “It was the coolest experience I’ve ever had on the ice — well, one of them. To hear the building like that; it’s something you never forget. There’s a lot of bad blood, but at the same time there’s tons of respect for the other team.
“It’s just a fun environment to be in. You don’t get this opportunity very often.”
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Rangers star J.T. Miller plays physical role in Team USA win against Canada
The game-opening fights came after “The Star-Spangled Banner” was booed lustily by the pro-Canada crowd. But Matthew Tkachuk said the booing had nothing to do with the decision to throw down; rather, it was planned.
“No. no,” he said. “That’s called me, Brady and (Miller) in a group chat. There was a little discussion during the day, there was a group chat going.”
So, the Tkachuks and Miller had a strategy.
“We had to send a message,” Matthew said.
Team USA coach Mike Sullivan felt the fights showed how much the players were invested in a game they were playing for pride.
The three fights “are very indicative of what this means to the players,” Sullivan said. “There’s two teams out there that are very competitive, that have a ton of pride for their respective teams and their countries. For me, when you have an investment like that in trying to win, the way it occurred, that’s an indication of it.”
The question now is whether there will be a rematch after the tournament moves to Boston’s TD Garden for the final round-robin games Monday and the championship game Thursday night. Each team plays three round-robin games, earning three points for a win in regulation, two points for a win in overtime or a shootout, one point for an OT or shootout loss, and none for a loss in regulation.
The U.S. is assured of a berth in the title game after winning its first two round-robin games in regulation. Each of the other three teams has two points. Canada and Finland, each of which owns a 4-3 overtime win against Sweden in addition to a loss to the United States, meet Monday afternoon. The Swedes play the Americans on Monday night.
“Other than Game 7 last year, this has been the highlight of my hockey career,” said Matthew Tkachuk, who won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last season but might sit out against Sweden after leaving in the third period Saturday with a lower-body injury — which could give Miller’s teammate, Chris Kreider, his first chance to play. “I’m just going to enjoy it with the guys. We have such a fun group in there.”
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