The Tkachuk family left last night's Oilers game early
Matthew Tkachuk was sent back to Florida without the Stanley Cup in hand after the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers in an 8-1 blowout.
On the off chance the Panthers were able to complete the sweep and win the cup, Tkachuk brought out his entire family to Rogers Place in Edmonton. This included his brother, Ottawa Senators captain, Brady Tkachuk and his father, former St. Louis Blues superstar, Keith Tkachuk.
The Tkachuk fam is in the building 👏 pic.twitter.com/BfdBUewVfm
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 16, 2024
Yet, as the game got increasingly out of reach for the Panthers, the family eventually decided to beat the traffic and left their seats in the waning moments of the third period, leaving a noticeable gap in their section for the final five minutes of the game.
Of course, Oilers fans were quick to notice and gloated about sending the family back to Florida without anything to celebrate quite yet.
THE TKACHUKS LEFT EARLY #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/6VqVcwKLAh
— Drew (@Drew92300) June 16, 2024
Matthew is currently chasing what could be the first Stanley Cup championship for the Tkachuk family. Despite playing in over 1,200 games over 18 years in the NHL, Keith never got a chance to appear in a Stanley Cup Final.
Brady is still early into his career with the Senators and has yet to play in a single playoff game.
This isn’t the first time that the Oilers have sent the Tkachuk family home unhappy in the playoffs. Back in 2022, the family was a staple at Calgary Flames games during the Battle of Alberta series against the Oilers. Edmonton eventually bounced the Flames in five games that season.
Though this is a positive development for the Oilers, they will have a lot of work to do if they want to make sure the Tkachuk’s avoid having their last name engraved on the Stanley Cup for the first time.
The series is now 3-1 in favour of the Panthers and the series is now shifting back to Florida for another do-or-die contest for the Oilers. The chance to win the Stanley Cup on home ice is sure to motivate the Panthers to put in a much better performance than on Saturday night.
It’s up to Edmonton to weather that storm and drag the Panthers back to Alberta for Game 6.
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