Despite a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, Tkachuk finished the night with a goal, seven shots and an NHL record 16 hits.
On fan appreciation night, Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk gave the fans plenty to appreciate on Saturday. For certain, a victory would have been nice, but even in a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils, Tkachuk made the club's second last home game of the season a memorable one.
Tkachuk scored in the third period to get the Senators to within a goal and had several chances in close in the dying moments, including a fluttering shot that rang off the goal post.
But Tkachuk was a one-man wrecking crew and, according to the NHL.com record page, his 16 hits on Saturday night are the most by a player in a single game since the league started tracking hits in 2007-08. That's one more than the previous record set back in 2018 by Nikita Zadorov. Until tonight, former Senators Mark Borowiecki was tied for the second most in a game with 14.
Of the 16, many of Tkachuk's hits were impactful, sending Devils players to the ice. One player was even launched completely onto New Jersey's bench.
When asked about the record, Tkachuk deflected and praised his teammates for their physical efforts, despite the loss.
"Well, there was a lot of physicality tonight," Tkachuk said. "I thought Kasty, Bo, Kells' line, Boko stepping up. And I think there's a lot of guys tonight that played physical and set the tone after last game that we knew that can't happen again. It was a slow start for us, which we need to correct and fix. But I think we need to play the way that we did in the third period moving forward."
If the Senators could summon up just half of the intensity and emotion in their first periods that they showed in their third period on Saturday night, they'd be just fine. But putting together complete 60-minute games or consistent performances for long stretches in a season has been one of their achilles for a long time now.
Still, Tkachuk's 16 hits on Saturday and dragging the Sens back into the game makes one look forward to the day the club gets it together so fans can finally see this guy in a post-season battle or two.