Matthew Tkachuk ‘all heart’ for U.S. in 4 Nations Face-Off championship

BOSTON -- All Matthew Tkachuk could do was watch.

For the final 23:22 of regulation and the entire 8:18 of overtime of their 3-2 loss to Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday, the United States forward did not leave the bench, could not leave the bench because of an undisclosed injury.

Still, United States coach Mike Sullivan said he had no regrets dressing Tkachuk, who missed the U.S.’s 3-1 loss to Sweden on Monday.

“Matthew Tkachuk has an impact on our team in such a way that even if he wasn’t 100 percent and we weren’t able to utilize him for a lot of the game, his presence on the bench and in the locker room means so much to this group,” Sullivan said. “He’s all heart. He’s a heart-and-soul guy.”

It was Tkachuk who ignited the fireworks at the start of the United States’ 3-1 win against Canada on Saturday in Montreal, fighting Canada forward Brandon Hagel at puck drop. This after he scored twice in a 6-1 win against Finland in the tournament opener for the U.S.

But he only played 11:10 in the first game against Canada, sitting out the final 12:36 after telling assistant coach John Tortorella on the bench he was done.

He played just 6:47 on Thursday.

His brother, Brady Tkachuk, wasn’t sure what Matthew’s injury was, but said it must be serious to keep him out of this game.

“He usually battles through anything,” Brady said. “But I think it’s got to be really serious for him not to be able to go because he’s such a warrior.”

Brady brought up the fact that his big brother played for the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final with a broken sternum before sitting out the fifth and final game of that series.

“Of course, he played through that broken sternum and yeah, I don’t think it’s too good,” Brady said.

At Panthers practice Friday, coach Paul Maurice said Tkachuk is day to day and is not expected to play when Florida resumes play against the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday (6 p.m. ET; KHN, SCRIPPS, KONG).

Tkachuk is second on Florida with 22 goals, 35 assists and 57 points. Since coming to the Panthers before the 2022-23 season, the 27-year-old has missed a total of 10 regular-season games.

“There is no one else in the world like Matthew," Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said Friday. “So you cannot really replace that type of player and person. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious. I don’t know yet; we don’t know. He’s a huge part of what we do here. … He’s one of a kind. That’s for sure."

With the United States having 13 skaters on the roster, Sullivan could’ve opted to have forward Kyle Connor play instead of Tkachuk. But Sullivan said both Tkachuks give a boost to the team, even when they’re not playing.

“I think those guys were a huge part of the leadership group,” Sullivan said. “They’re just high-character people, they have an insatiable appetite to win, and it’s contagious.

“I think they help our team confidence. I think they help build our team swagger. And for all those reasons, I’m glad he was on the bench tonight.”

NHL.com independent correspondent George Richards contrbuted to this report