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
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.