Matthew Tkachuk suspended one game

It’s been a rough couple months for the Flames’ precocious left-winger.

Last night, Matthew Tkachuk speared Matt Martin while on the bench. As such, the NHL has suspended Tkachuk for tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.

It’s certainly going to be tougher for the Flames to snap a three-game losing skid tonight without Tkachuk (and possibly Jaromir Jagr again).

Below is the video of the spear. It is easy to spot Tkachuk, just look for the child compulsively devouring a mouthguard.:

Despite playing well last night and scoring a nice goal in a shootout, the main talking point following the loss had nothing to do with what Tkachuk did on the ice.

Honestly, it’s impossible to defend spearing a guy from the bench. Does worse stuff happen on the ice most nights? You bet. Does that matter? Nope. Tkachuk is an absolutely fantastic hockey player, something he probably doesn’t get enough credit for around the league.

But instances like these certainly don’t help. Mike Babcock alluded to this point following the game:

I tend to agree with Babcock’s assertion here that this kind of thing isn’t needed for a player of Tkachuk’s calibre. Surely, given what we’ve seen from his play so far as a Flame, Tkachuk does enough on the ice to get under opponents’ skin. This is just a needless move, the kind that will always get you in trouble.

Here’s the video from DOPS about the suspension:

In the short term, this throws the Flames’ lineup into (even more) chaos, with Jagr already a game-time decision and Kris Versteeg out long-term. For a team that is struggling to find some consistency, losing one of their most productive wingers is… suboptimal, to be sure.

If Jagr is unable to go, perhaps Sam Bennett moves up to play with Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik and the bottom six is some stew of Freddie Hamilton, Curtis Lazar, Matt Stajan, Troy Brouwer, Garnet Hathaway, and Mark Jankowski. Yikes. I’m sure you see the problem here.

Tkachuk is such a valuable player, a member of one of the best possession lines in hockey, and, yes, a huge pest. Hopefully, he finds ways to stay on the ice (and in the lineup) because the Flames need him.