Sens' Tkachuk says he played through hip injury sustained at 4 Nations
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Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk said Saturday that he had been playing through a hip injury he sustained while representing the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
The Sens captain said the injury happened against Sweden in the Americans' round-robin finale on Feb. 17.
"The hip happened that Sweden game, took some time coming back to try to get it as good as possible…now it’s just, take the time to get that all healed up...it could heal up in the next couple of weeks," he said.
The injury appeared to happen in the first period of that game when he lost an edge and hard into Sweden goalie Samuel Ersson's left leg and skate, dislodging the net. He briefly returned to the game but did not come back out for the second period and was later officially ruled out for the night.
He returned for the final against Canada three days later but missed Ottawa's first two games following the tournament.
Tkachuk also discussed a different injury he incurred later in the season that kept him out from late March until just before the playoffs. The 25-year-old missed eight games with an upper-body injury before returning on April 17.
“I don't want to diagnose and put it out there, lets just say it’s something you can’t really play through," he said Saturday.
'Best atmosphere I've ever played in'
Tkachuk also discussed his team's first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and told reporters how much he enjoyed playing postseason hockey.
“This is only way I can describe it, it’s almost addicting to be able to play in front of that atmosphere. It was truly the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in.”
The Sens fell down 0-3 in the series but won Game 4 in overtime and then forced a Game 6 after winning Game 5 back in Toronto. But Ottawa's run came to an end Thursday night when the Leafs won 4-2 to advance to the second round, where they will play the Florida Panthers.
“It’s devastating,” said Tkachuk after the Sens' elimination. “I really believed. It’s a tough pill to swallow right now.”
"And, I mean, I don’t know, it’s tough to swallow but at the end of the day to see this city, see this fan base and I really wanted to do it for them. And, I mean, they came out and did their job. It’s gonna be a long couple months here but myself and the rest of the group here we’re gonna come with a lot of fire next year.”