Brady and Matthew Tkachuk aren’t just two of the NHL’s best players.
They’re also two of the league’s biggest hotheads, and every time they play each other, it’s something special and often testy.
Traditionally, a Panthers-Senators matchup isn’t the biggest rivalry, but Monday’s contest was something else, and the game saw no fewer than 167 penalty minutes.
The Tkachuk brothers have said that they would never fight each other during a game, no matter what happens. On Monday, their grandmother, Geraldine, was in the stands, and when cameras zoomed in on her during the absolute mayhem that the third period offered, she looked to be in complete shock.
The Tkachuk brothers didn’t fight each other this time either, but that didn’t stop them from causing chaos in other ways.
Matthew Tkachuk got two minutes for roughing with Travis Hamonic and another two for unsportsmanlike conduct after jawing at Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo at the end of the second.
And that was just the beginning of what would be one of the messiest third periods in a long time.
Matthew checked Travis Hamonic in the third period, and Senators Zach MacEwen retaliated by jumping him from behind.
Tkachuk got a cut on his face, and MacEwen received a match penalty. On his way to the bench, cameras caught Matthew Tkachuk chirping at his brother Brady, who was standing on the bench.
A microphone also caught Tkachuk hilariously threatening to go after the Senators’ young stars, Tim Stützly and Jake Sanderson.
“Timmy and Sanderson are dead,” Tkachuk said.
Matthew wasn’t done for the night, though, as he went on to fight Sanderson, with Matthew getting an extra two minutes for removing his helmet.
Later, a huge scrum broke out between all the players, and the referee gave everyone on the ice a 10-minute misconduct.
Brady Tkachuk also got four extra minutes for goalie interference, giving him 16 minutes for the night. Matthew Tkachuk “just” got eleven.
The teams play again on Feb. 20 in Florida. Let’s see if Grandma Tkachuk feels like sitting in the stands at that time.
