Ottawa Senators Captain Brady Tkachuk Scores a Beauty in Team USA World Hockey Championship Tune-up Game
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Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk helped lead Team USA to a 6-2 victory over host Slovakia in a warmup game for the World Hockey Championships. The American tune-up tilt was played before a sell-out crowd in Bratislava, Slovakia.
After an excellent feed from Luke Hughes, Tkachuk scored a top-shelf beauty from the top of the left circle.
Three Ottawa Senators players are playing for Team USA this year. Tkachuk opened today on the left wing, with Anaheim Ducks centre Trevor Zegras and Cole Caufield of the Montreal Canadiens on the right side.
After a 41-game suspension, Shane Pinto should have plenty left in the tank. He’s centering Johnny Gaudreau and Matt Boldy. And Jake Sanderson was paired with Jeff Petry.
The Americans will face a stiff test in the tournament opener on Friday in Ostrava, Czechia, where they’ll take on Team Sweden. The face-off is at 2:20 p.m. (Eastern). Ridly Greig and Team Canada will take on Great Britain on Saturday at 6:20 a.m. (Eastern).
Canada got a boost today with the addition of a few NHL players who lost in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That includes former Senator Nick Paul, who was the overtime hero for Canada in the gold medal game three years ago. His two-on-one goal with Connor Brown, his Sens teammate at the time, won’t soon be forgotten.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Brandon Hagel are also joining Canada, while Macklin Celebrini and Adam Fantilli have decided to return home.
That decision might improve Canada’s chances but won’t do much for Canadian TV ratings. Celebrini is widely expected to be the top pick in next month’s NHL Draft.