Brady Tkachuk returned to Ottawa on Wednesday night and was booed. His Panthers lost 5-1 to the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre in front of 17,010. Yahoo Sports reported that fans greeted their former captain with loud boos. ESPN said he "embraced the overwhelming antagonism" and scored in what it called an acrimonious return. Sportsnet said the jeers came during his tribute video. It added that he came back with Florida after requesting an off-season trade.
The box score for the game confirms the goal. Tkachuk had one goal on two shots in 13:13 of ice time, and Florida's only goal came in the first period, when the score was 1-1. The rest of his night was less tidy. He took three penalties for six minutes, finished minus-2, and gave the puck away twice. His brother Matthew, also in Florida's lineup, had an assist and four penalty minutes. The two teams combined for 26 penalties and 72 penalty minutes.
Ottawa controlled the game after the first period. The Senators outscored Florida 4-0 over the second and third, outshot the Panthers 30-18 and won 62.3 percent of faceoffs. They had nine power plays to Florida's five, and each side scored once with the man advantage. The outlets we have do not say who spoke after the game or what Tkachuk said, and we won't guess at it.
Tkachuk's season line shows he has been productive and also prone to penalties. Through nine games he has six goals and four assists for 10 points, a plus-2 rating and 11 penalty minutes. More than half of those minutes came on Wednesday.
The result moves Ottawa to 7-3, third in the Atlantic Division, on a one-game win streak. The Senators had lost 3-1 at Philadelphia on Saturday and beat the Islanders 2-1 on Oct. 15. Florida is 5-3 and fourth in the division. The loss snapped a stretch in which the Panthers beat Seattle 8-3 and Vancouver 3-2.
Ottawa is back at home on Thursday against San Jose, then hosts the Rangers on Saturday. Florida plays at Pittsburgh on Thursday, its first game since leaving Ottawa. Tkachuk will play it with a goal from the night the Ottawa crowd booed him.
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