During Game 1 of the Battle of Ontario, Leafs fans chanted “Brady sucks”, which prompted Tkachuk to fire back at them in his post-game interview.
Brady Tkachuk’s much-hyped playoff debut wasn’t quite the way he had it planned. The Ottawa Senators’ captain was fired up for Sunday’s opener of their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team’s first trip to the playoffs since 2017.
As much as Toronto has home-ice supremacy as division winners, the 25-year-old winger believed that the Senators could surprise them. But Game 1 of the first playoff Battle of Ontario in years quickly turned sour for Tkachuk and the Senators.
Toronto took advantage of bad Senators goaltending for the massive win
Toronto rolled to a 6-2 victory, and Tkachuk was squarely in the sights of the Scotiabank Arena crowd. Chants of “Brady sucks” were echoing through the sold-out arena and well into the third period by the time the puck dropped.
The Senators’ captain responded to all of the chants in a post-game interview, where it didn’t appear he was too phased by it.
“I guess I expected it. Couldn’t care less. I don’t really give a sh*t to be honest with you,” Tkachuk said about the chants post-game. “That’s not going to affect me. It’s a new game Tuesday.”
Tkachuk, despite all his physical energy, had nothing. The Senators’ captain had five shots and seven hits, and he also took a roughing penalty late in the second period following a scrap with Toronto’s Scott Laughton.
The Leafs controlled the game from start to finish, scoring twice in each period and scoring on three power plays. The Senators struggled to keep their cool, racking up 36 minutes of penalties to the Leafs’ 16.
With Game 2 tomorrow in Toronto, the stage is already set for this riveting series. And based on the reaction of the crowd to Game 1, Tkachuk will not be getting a warm reception anytime soon.