The Hockey News Morning Skate: Brady Tkachuk's Return To Ottawa Sparks Chaos

Welcome to The Hockey News Morning Skate, where we give a quick recap of all the action from the NHL every weekday morning so you stay up to date.

Wednesday featured a small two-game slate headlined by Brady Tkachuk's return to the Canadian Tire Centre as the Florida Panthers took on the Ottawa Senators.

Let's run through the biggest storylines that emerged from last night, and make sure to check out the video version of this story above.

This matchup between the Panthers and Senators was easily one of the most entertaining October games in recent NHL history.

Fists were flying, jerseys were tossed, and there were some creative chants echoed by the home crowd. This was their first real opportunity to let their former captain know how they felt about his decision to request a trade in the off-season, and they did not hold back.

It looked like Tkachuk was going to spoil the night for Senators fans when he opened the scoring in the first period. The 26-year-old started out slow, failing to record a point in his first five games as a Panther, before exploding with back-to-back natural hat tricks and now has 10 points in his last four games.

However, the home team quickly flipped the script with impressive two-point efforts from Tim Stutzle as well as Jake Sanderson, who made his return to the lineup after missing the last eight games. Stephen Halliday added two points of his own, while Claude Giroux, Warren Foegele and Shane Pinto each tallied a goal to secure a 5-1 win.

Amid the numerous post-whistle scrums and fights, goaltender Linus Ullmark continued his hot start to the season, giving up just one goal on 18 shots before exiting with a lower-body injury early in the third period. Goaltender Sam Ersson showed up in relief, but the Senators held the Panthers to just one shot on goal in the final 16:25 of the third period.

After such an emotional night, it will be interesting to see how the both teams respond, with both being scheduled for the second half of a back-to-back on Thursday. The San Jose Sharks will be heading to Ottawa while the Panthers will make their way to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins. 

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