Brady Tkachuk heard the boos in Ottawa on Wednesday night. Then the Panthers forward scored a power play goal against his former team.
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The Senators rolled a welcome back tribute on the big screen inside Canadian Tire Centre. The building answered with boos loud enough to bury any cheers mixed in.
Depending on which camera you trusted, he either teared up on the Florida bench or grinned through the entire thing.
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Maybe both. One fan online called it the most awkward tribute video ever, and it's tough to argue when the honoree is wearing visiting colors.
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Then the puck dropped, and the mood didn't matter much. Midway through the first period, with the game still scoreless, Brady finished off a Florida power play to open the scoring.
The unit on the ice was family business. Brady and Matthew Tkachuk worked it alongside Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Seth Jones, five Panthers spreading out the Ottawa penalty kill.
And this wasn't some random bounce. He came into the night with six goals in nine games, and every one of them arrived over his last five.
Florida's Tkachuk brothers are carrying a banged-up Panthers lineup
Two of those goals came with the man advantage. Matthew has been the setup man on that unit, piling up 7 power play assists already.
Matthew sits at 14 points through nine games. Florida needs every one of them right now.
Aleksander Barkov is on injured reserve and expected out until at least Nov. 27. Brad Marchand is out too, with a leg injury that sidelines him until at least Nov. 21.
Jacob Markstrom is also on IR, and Akira Schmid owns an .878 save percentage in his absence. So who else was supposed to drive this offense?
The Panthers walked in at 5-2-2 riding a three-game win streak. Ottawa, at 6-3-0, was coming off a 3-1 loss in Philadelphia.
The Senators were also missing Thomas Chabot, day-to-day with an upper-body issue. Young defenseman Carter Yakemchuk carries a -6 rating, and that blue line had very little margin tonight.
Here's the take. Fans had every right to boo, but putting a sentimental video on the board during a game was a misread of the room by the organization.
It played like inviting your ex to the wedding, then watching them deliver the best toast of the night.
Florida is paying Brady a cap hit of $8,208,714 to do exactly this. Ottawa got a front-row seat to the receipt.
Neither team gets to sit on it. The Panthers head to Pittsburgh on Thursday, while the Senators host San Jose the same night.
And these two meet again on Nov. 25 in Florida. Will Ottawa's anger still be this loud when the Tkachuk brothers have home ice behind them?
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Were Senators fans right to boo Brady Tkachuk during his own tribute video?
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