Brady Tkachuk made his highly-anticipated return to the Ottawa Senators lineup on Friday afternoon, and although it came in a losing effort, the captain showed very few signs of rust in his first NHL game in a month and a half.
Tkachuk recorded an assist in a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues in his home state, adding eight shots and three hits over 17:12 of time on ice.
“Honestly, it was just nice to get back,” he told reporters postgame, including The Athletic's Julian McKenzie. “I was just trying to play and not overthink anything.”
The 26-year-old continued: “We’re all power forwards and want to get to the net and find those little pockets in the O-zone. I liked some of the looks, and it was nice to play with some great players and hopefully build off that.”
He also made an obvious admission regarding a game the Sens led heading into the third period.
“Would’ve felt a lot better with a win,” he said.
Tkachuk spent the afternoon playing on the second line alongside Dylan Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund, and immediately returned to the top powerplay unit with Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Shane Pinto and Jake Sanderson.
After missing 20 games and 46 days, it was a huge boost to have a player of Tkachuk's caliber back in the fold — regardless of the outcome. And his teammates took notice.
Senators thrilled to have Brady Tkachuk back
“He was great,” said Zetterlund, who scored a nifty goal in the second period. “First game back, it’s obviously tough. But I think he did a great job. He moved his feet, he used his body, protected the puck.”
“He’s so good around the net,” echoed Pinto, who also scored in the contest. “Always causing chaos. Just creating so much space for his linemates. It’s definitely nice to have him back and he’s just going to keep getting better and better.”
Despite the loss, it's been a strong start to the 2025-26 campaign for the Senators. Ottawa is 12-8-4, good for third in the Atlantic Division. Although the hold on a playoff spot is precarious, the team has won six of 10 games dating back to November 8.
The Eastern Conference is extremely crowded; the Sens are five points back of the first-place New Jersey Devils, and just six ahead of the last-place Buffalo Sabres. It's going to be quite an intriguing race to the postseason over the next five months.
But considering the club did more than tread water in the absence of its captain, the positive results should continue with No. 7 back in the equation.
The Senators are in the midst of a seven-game road trip; they'll play the Stars in Dallas on Sunday and Habs in Montreal on Tuesday before returning to Canada's capital later next week.
