The Canadian Press
Lisa Wallace
OTTAWA–Brady Tkachuk hasn’t had a chance to pick up a present for his mother Chantal’s upcoming birthday, but figures his performance last night might be a start.
The rookie forward scored his first NHL goal, finishing with two goals and an assist, as the Ottawa Senators fell 7-4 to the Philadelphia Flyers.
“Her birthday is [Thursday] so it’s a nice little pre-gift for her because as of right now I don’t have a gift for her yet,” noted Tkachuk.
“Maybe try to send flowers overnight but it’s kind of my gift for her.”
Tkachuk, the fourth pick in the 2018 NHL draft, was making his home debut at Canadian Tire Centre.
“You saw a terrific player making a difference for us,” said Senators’ coach Guy Boucher.
“It’s more than welcome.”
Maxime Lajoie also scored twice and had an assist while Chris Tierney chipped in with three assists.
Craig Anderson stopped 37 shots in the loss.
Boucher said the youthful Senators (1-2-1) can ill afford to continue to play a run-and-gun style all the time.
Through four games, Ottawa has given up 20 goals and is allowing 37.8 shots per game.
“You definitely want to tighten that up, you have to or else you can’t win games,” Boucher stressed.
“It’s exciting but you’re not going to win many games,” he noted.
“Everybody has to be better in that respect and everybody knows that.”
After dropping their own home opener 8-2 to the San Jose Sharks the previous night, the Flyers were determined to bounce back with a better effort.
“It was a tough start at home for us but we scored seven and I think we played a pretty good hockey game,” said Jakub Voracek, who had two goals and three assists last night.
“We just have to take it to the home ice now.”
Scott Laughton also scored twice for the Flyers (2-2-0) while Sean Couturier, Robert Hagg, and Claude Giroux added singles.
Calvin Pickard made 31 saves for the win.
Tkachuk was thrilled to notch his first career goal as he redirected a Tierney shot off his skate on the power play to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead.
With the marker, he also earned the bragging rights as the fastest Tkachuk to score in the NHL.
It took his father, Keith, five games and his brother, Matthew, who plays for the Calgary Flames, four games.
Tkachuk’s second goal was flashier than his first as he carried the puck in and beat Pickard short-side.
The 19-year-old wants to contribute as much as he can and while he’ll enjoy the moment, he said it’s just part of the process.
“It’s nice but I feel like I can do even more,” Tkachuk said.
“I learned a lot again and I’m just going to keep applying it.”
“It’s four games in,” said Ottawa’s Matt Duchene. “There’s no need to panic or anything but we need to learn quick.
“We have to learn from those errors and the things we did wrong, and get ready for Saturday.”
Elsewhere in the NHL, Washington beat Vegas 5-2 and Arizona edged Anaheim 3-2 (SO).
