US star Matthew Tkachuk leaves the 4 Nations Face-Off game vs. Canada with a lower-body injury

MONTREAL (AP) — Matthew Tkachuk left the United States’ 4 Nations Face-Off victory over Canada on Saturday night because of what coach Mike Sullivan called a lower-body injury.

There were few details beyond that after the 3-1 victory.

“He’s being evaluated by our doctors,” Sullivan. “That’s all I can offer you. We’ll make decisions that we think is best for Matthew and we think is best for our team. Right now I don’t have a lot of information to go on so it’s hard for me to give you more.”

Tkachuk went to the bench in the third period just nine seconds into a shift and skated around several times testing out something that was bothering him. He appeared to tell assistant coach John Tortorella at one point he “couldn’t go,” and played just 1:13 in the third and not at all in the final 12-plus minutes.

Asked multiple times about how he was feeling, Tkachuk brushed off the injury and tried to change the subject.

“No concern at all,” Tkachuk said. “I feel good. Definitely way better after a win. Should be all good.”

The U.S. wrapped up a spot in the 4 Nations final on Thursday night in Boston, so Sullivan could opt to rest Tkachuk on Monday night in the round-robin finale against Sweden that has no bearing on the outcome of the NHL-run international tournament. Veteran winger Chris Kreider is available to play if Tkachuk does not.

But it does not sound like Tkachuk wants to miss any of this tournament after he and so many other players around the league waited so long for a return to elite country versus country competition with the best players in the world. It almost reaches the level of him winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last season.

“Other than Game 7 last year, this has been the highlight of my hockey career,” Tkachuk said. “I’m just going to enjoy it with the guys.”

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL