It was rookie Matthew Tkachuk’s tenth NHL game against the San Jose Sharks Thursday evening. After getting the go ahead that he’d be staying in the NHL earlier in the day, he proved that the Calgary Flames made the right call.
The Calgary Flames had to decide whether to keep rookie F
in the NHL the rest of the season or send him back down to the OHL. Earlier in the day, Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan gave Tkachuk a bit of a scare. He told him something along the lines of, “all it takes is one bad play to be sent down.” Luckily for Tkachuk, Flames coaching staff and management thought he had earned a spot on the roster and he was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
No hatty for Matty (but still 2 goals)
Unfortunately, there was no hat trick for Tkachuk tonight, but he still got two goals. One being the game winner. And, coincidentally enough, his former London Knights teammate Mitch Marner also got his first two-goal game of the season. Talk about friendship goals.
Tonight was special for Matthew because, not only did he close up the scoring, but he proved a point.
There were talks about whether or not he should be sent down to the OHL after the first nine games. And after being a healthy scratch for two games in a row, that would of course be concerning for the 18 year old. And of course, before the tenth game, he definitely had to prove himself that he’s worthy of staying. But in my personal opinion, I think he has an even bigger point to prove now.
It’s the “Okay, I’m here to stay, let me show they didn’t make a mistake.”
Thanks for the win, Matt
His game winning goal was a thrill because it came with just about four minutes left of the game when the score was even. Going into third period up 2-0, the Calgary Flames definitely thought they might have this one in the bag. I mean, rookie mistake is trusting the Flames to maintain a lead this season (sorry).
But then the San Jose Sharks opened up third period with a power play goal not even a minute in and later tied it with still ten minutes left. Flames fans started to be concerned.
So for Tkachuk to get that late third period goal and to avoid overtime and to essentially lift his team to a win. Definitely a well deserving goal too. Talk about a tenth game, hey?
Something else I like about the kid is how he’s not afraid to get into scrums. Even with the big name guys. It shows his fearlessness and shows that truculence, a word I hate using but we know Brian Burke loves it. So Brian Burke probably loves the kid too (as do we). Let’s just hope his parents stayed up in St. Louis to watch this game.
Next: Special Team Woes Continue In Calgary
Tkachuk’s still got a long season ahead of him and still plenty to learn. But I have no doubt that he’ll fit right in. And prove that he’s here to stay.