Senators captain Brady Tkachuk won’t be suspended for late fight with Tuch
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Published Oct 25, 2023 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 4 minute read
Ottawa Senators’ Brady Tkachuk (top) and Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch (89) fight during Tuesday’s game. The Canadian Press
Brady Tkachuk has avoided the long arm of the NHL’s law.
The NHL confirmed to Postmedia on Wednesday that the Ottawa Senators captain won’t be suspended for one game and coach D.J. Smith won’t be handed a $10,000 US fine after a fight with Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch in Tuesday night’s 6-4 loss at the Canadian Tire Centre.
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The decision means Tkachuk will be eligible to suit up Thursday night to start the club’s two-game trip against the New York Islanders at USB Arena because that wasn’t always looking like it would be the case.
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Losing Tkachuk, even just for one game, would have been a difficult blow for the Senators after the club lost its second straight to the Sabres to close out a five-game homestand with a 3-2 record.
Tkachuk dropped the gloves with Tuch with 3:10 left in the game. Tuch tripped Tkachuk while he was leaving the zone without the puck and then a fight ensued.
Tkachuk was given a two-minute instigator and a 10-minute misconduct as a result of the incident by officials Kevin Pollock and Ghislain Hebert.
According to NHL rules, Tkachuk has to receive an automatic one-game suspension and Smith is fined for his part in the incident.
Smith stated after the game the Senators would appeal to the league to have the fine and the suspension rescinded.
“I know what the rule is for, at the end when you send guys out (specifically to fight),” Smith said Tuesday night. “I don’t see that situation at all. I see a guy (Tuch) that went out of his way to hit (Tkachuk) dirty and he sticks up for himself.
“The league will make that call and let us know, but I see that not what the rule is intended for.”
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The indications are George Parros, the head of the NHL’s department of player safety, reached out to the club after the game to say it had reviewed the incident and it didn’t meet the threshold for a suspension or fine.
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The spirit of the rule was put in place to stop teams from trying to settle scores late in games that are out of hand. The league doesn’t want the last five minutes of a game to be held up because both coaches are trying to make sure they send message with tough guys dropping the gloves.
It will be up to the game officials to decide if they want to erase the instigator to Tkachuk. He got the better of Tuch in the fight, but the Sabres were already well in control of the game when all this took place.
Former NHL referee Tim Peel noted on X (formerly known as Twitter) that he didn’t agree with the instigator call on Tkachuk.
“Tuch knew exactly what he was doing and interfered with Tkachuk when he didn’t have the puck,” Peel said.
It turns out the league felt the same way, but it did set off some fireworks in the dying minutes of the game, which is what the league is trying to avoid.
Thirty seconds after Tkachuk and Tuch fought, Ottawa winger Vladimir Tarasenko hit Buffalo’s Kyle Okposo. Dylan Cozens took a double-minor and game misconduct for coming to Okposo’s defence.
“Love the response,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “Guys sticking up for each other, guys battling for each other. I had to calm quite a few guys down, which is a good thing. I’d rather calm the guys down and that was the case tonight. I thought that was a little bit of what we needed as well.”
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It had already been a tough night for Tkachuk when the incident occurred. He left the game late in the second period after taking a stinger to the elbow trying to make a hit with about 30 seconds left.
“He’s fine,” Smith said in regards to that ailment.
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BACK TO KORPISALO?
Pulled after allowing five goals on 18 shots, it’s doubtful the Senators will stick with Anton Forsberg against the Islanders on Thursday.
Smith has been trying to use both goalies throughout the early part of the season, but Joonas Korpisalo didn’t allow any goals on the five shots he faced from the Sabres in the third.
Smith wasn’t about to point the finger at his goaltenders for the losses in the club’s past two games to Buffalo and Detroit. Mind you, both have to be better for the Senators to get to the playoffs.
“You want better, but you have to look at it, are they tipped or are they not tipped? The goalie can’t save what he can’t see,” Smith said. “But save-percentage-wise you want that, but at the same time (Forsberg) has been really good for us.
“Guys are going to have some off games and he’ll bounce back.”
Signed as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, Korpisalo wasn’t at his best Saturday. He gave up five goals on 21 shots.
His numbers have to improve because through three appearances he has a 1-2-0 record with an .865 save-percentage and a 4.04 goals against average.
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
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