The United States clinched their spot in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off Final this past Saturday after a 3-1 win over Canada. It's not like USA left the game unscathed. Matthew Tkachuk exited late in the game and sat on the far end of the bench. Yet, he was deemed good to go for the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship on Thursday, but would sit on Monday vs. Sweden.
Then, shortly before puck drop on Monday, USA announced that Auston Matthews would sit out vs. Sweden as he deals with upper body soreness. Despite this, Matthews is expected to play on Thursday in the rematch against Canada. Even though the United States clinched, they were still playing for a win against Sweden. But, the last thing they needed to deal with was an injury scare.
Early in the first period, forward Brady Tkachuk rushed to Sweden's net to attempt to extend USA's lead to 2-0. But, Tkachuk slipped as he went for the back-hand attempt, and slammed side-first into goalie Samuel Ersson's leg pad and the goal post.
Brady Tkachuk has went to the USA locker room after crashing into the net pic.twitter.com/gR8IqmJvrU
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 18, 2025
Brady Tkachuk returns for USA vs. Sweden after exiting due to injury scare
Tkachuk played one more shift before heading down the tunnel in TD Garden to get checked out. With that, Team USA fans panicked about Tkachuk potentially missing time with a potential injury suffered in what was a meaningless game.
After a brief period of time, Tkachuk returned to the bench. That's the good news. The Ottawa Senators captain played one shift for a total of 14 seconds upon his return. Yet, Tkachuk didn't play for the remainder of the first period.
UPDATE (9:17 p.m. ET): Things only got more concerning, as Tkachuck didn't head back from the locker room after intermission for the second period. Shortly afterwards, Tkachuk was ruled out for the remainder of the game. With that, Team USA would run the remainder of the game with 10 forwards.
UPDATE (11:15 p.m. ET): After Team USA's 2-1 loss to Sweden, head coach Mike Sullivan revealed that Tkachuk was held out of the game for precautionary reasons. Although Sullivan didn't have a full update on Tkachuk, he does expect him to play on Thursday against Canada.
Mike Sullivan says Brady Tkachuk was held out “more for precautionary reasons” and while he doesn’t have a full update, didn’t think it would be a problem for Thursday
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 18, 2025
With the big game on Thursday night, and the ailments the team is already dealing with, losing Tkachuk could be catastrophic for USA.