Matthew Tkachuk has fingerprints all over Calgary Flames' victory over Dallas Stars
You could tell right from the first shift it was going to be Matthew Tkachuk's kind of game. Tkachuk's line with Elias Lindholm and Johnny Gaudreau started for the Calgary Flames and the scrappy winger got the fans into a frenzy by hitting everything in his path.
Tkachuk was in on the only goal of the game, helping set up Lindholm's power-play marker in the first.
He got into a scrap with Dallas Stars forward Michael Raffl at the end of the first period and had an amazing shift to end the game.
Tkachuk says in the post season you have to do whatever it takes.
"I enjoy playoff hockey and trying to make a difference, no matter which way that is," he said.
"Whether it's low-scoring games, and you've got to make a difference in more ways that just scoring. Fun games, playoff hockey is the best."
TKACHUK'S KIND OF GAME
Teammates like Noah Hanifin was certainly impressed by Tkachuk's effort. Hanifin says he set the tone in game one.
"Matthew, he's a leader on our team, and that's when he's playing his best hockey… when he gets that emotion going. He's a physical presence but he's also got so much skill and he can play any type of game, and I think he's definitely a player who is built for the playoffs."
WAR OF WORDS HAS BEGUN
Tkachuk wasn't the only Flames player to drop the mitts in game one; Rasmus Andersson scrapped with fellow Swedish defenceman John Klingberg at the end of the first.
Klingberg says he wasn't impressed and launched the first war of words.
"I was skating over to him and dropping my gloves and I wanted to go, but he's just standing there for two seconds and then he drops the gloves. I mean, he's acting a little tougher than he is, and we're going to go after him."
Tkachuk says he isn't sure what Klingberg meant by that comment.
FLAMES CAN HANDLE THEMSLEVES
"First of all, I don't even really know what that means, 'going after somebody,'" Tkachuk said.
"I think we've got enough guys that we can handle ourselves, guys outside of Raz (Andersson) who can handle themselves quite well."
"I don't think those guys are going to be fighting each other again in this series," added head coach Darryl Sutter.
HAVE TO BE EVEN BETTER IN GAME TWO
As happy as the Flames are to be up one game to nothing in the series, goaltender Jacob Markström, who earned the shutout, says they'll have to be even better in game two on Thursday night.
"For the most part we kept the puck in their end and we created more than they created and got rewarded with a 1-0 win, which is huge, but that's over with now, and we've got to look forward to Thursday night's game, which is going to be a huge challenge for us," he said.
Puck drop on Thursday is a little after 8 p.m. at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Doctors combine a pig kidney transplant and a heart device in a bid to extend woman's life
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.