Senators' Tkachuk cautious on confirming playoff status
Published
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk is being cautious about his status prior to his team's first appearance in the playoffs since 2017.
Tkachuk, 25, is looking forward to his first playoff appearance of his career, but has missed the team's last five games with an upper-body injury.
"I don't think I'd ever miss an opportunity to play in the playoffs," said Tkachuk after Thursday's practice. "But [I'm] not looking too far in advance. [I'm] looking forward to skating tomorrow, feeling good, and going from there."
The Senators cliched their first playoff berth in seven years on Tuesday and are currently battling with the Montreal Canadiens for playoff positioning.
They sit fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 42-30-6 record and are in possession of the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of the Canadiens.
Ottawa and Montreal will go head-to-head on Friday in a game that could decide which team will finish higher in the standings, but it is unknown what Tkachuk's status will be.
When asked if he would prefer to get rest before the playoffs or to get some game action to get warmed up, he said he would like a little of both.
"I'm in the mental state where [I believe] there's two more months of hockey left," said Tkachuk. "It's going to be a long, grueling, and taxing [time] on the body and mind so I think it's a combination of resting up for that.
"I haven't played since March 30 so [I also] got to make sure I'm ready physically. I know mentally, [I've] been waiting for this moment so I'm not worried about that one bit."
Tkachuk also missed some time after he represented the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February with an undisclosed injury that hindered him during that tournament and cost him two games when the Senators returned to action.
The 6-foot-4 winger leads the team with 29 goals and is third on the team in scoring with 55 points in 78 games.
Ottawa wraps up the regular season with a four-game homestand, beginning with the Canadiens on Friday. They then take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday and Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday before finishing the season against the Carolina Hurricanes.