Tkachuk blossoming into a star
Flames winger combines controlled truculence with deft scoring touch
In the last month, Matthew Tkachuk has gone from renowned super-pest to star.
Like everything in his career, the transformation has come quicker than many expected.
The 20-year-old Flames winger topped off a tremendous month Sunday night with two thirdperiod goals against the Islanders, including the game-winner with a minute left.
In a nod to the rugged style he has used to gain quite a reputation around the league, he also drew three penalties and had six shots on goal.
A one-man wrecking crew. The game’s first star.
The hero.
In the midst of his 14-game tear that has seen him go from 10 to 20 goals, his L.A. Kings nemesis, defenceman Drew Doughty, suggested Tkachuk was the most hated player in the league.
The assertion punctuated yet another evening in which Tkachuk seemed hell-bent on making Doughty’s evening miserable. He’s good at that. (Tkachuk’s first of three NHL suspensions came last March courtesy of a vicious elbow to Doughty’s face that cost the Flame two games).
Tkachuk said he didn’t see such a label as a badge of honour. His goal is to be known for different reasons.
“I think you just want to be known as a guy who plays the game hard and is part of a winning team,” said Tkachuk, who seems to have mellowed somewhat following his second suspension this season in early December.
“I just can’t be running around doing stupid stuff. I want to produce offence and help the team in other ways.”
Always has, but this year his impact on the scoresheet is far more pronounced.
Last year as a rookie, the Flames’ sixth pick overall in 2016 had 13 goals and 35 assists to go with 105 penalty minutes.
This year his penalty count is down, considerably, to 47 and he’s third in team scoring with 20 goals and 19 helpers in 54 games.
He continues to draw more penalties than anyone else in the NHL as opponents try handling — or abusing — his 6-foot-2, 202-pound frame in the dirty areas he thrives in.
Coach Glen Gulutzan wanted to find ways to reward Tkachuk with more ice time, so he’s been using him on the top power play unit where he heads straight to the net upon every entry. It is there he has picked up a team-high seven goals, largely by way of slick redirections and rebounds in tight.
Teammates have known from Day 1 he’s capable of doing it all, and now he’s doing exactly that. The consummate team player and the ultimate threat to the opposition.
His evolution shouldn’t come as a revelation as he’s one of the game’s more complete youngsters.
After Doughty made his declaration on Tkachuk, Sportsnet ran a poll, asking who the NHL’s most hated player was.
Boston’s Brad Marchand was the runaway winner, in part, because he also happened to be handed a five-game suspension that day.
Anaheim’s Corey Perry got plenty of votes, as did Ryan Kesler and Tkachuk.
Was he flattered to be lumped in with such a group?
“Corey Perry and Marchand have done a lot in their careers, they’ve won Cups and been able to produce offensively,” said Tkachuk, who has learned plenty from his father, Keith, who was also one of the premier power forwards of his generation.
“That’s what I look up to, the way they play the game from an offensive standpoint first and foremost,” he said.
Another month of scoring binges like this and the potential 30-goal scorer will continue to build a new reputation.
After all, not many second-line wingers score 30 goals.
“Most hated?” asked Flames GM Brad Treliving, breaking into a chuckle.
“I don’t know if he’s the most hated. He’s certainly not hated much in my office. I love him. I don’t understand. He’s a good kid. I don’t know how anybody could not love him.”