Keith Tkachuk knows a thing or two about scoring big goals.
The former NHLer was in attendance Sunday to watch his son score twice in the Memorial Cup final, including the game-winner in overtime for the London Knights. The two embraced on the ice after the game, resulting in a whole lot of feelings.
Matthew, who culminated his final season before going pro in the best possible way, told NHL.com's Aaron Vickers that he was playing on a sprained ankle since the OHL final.
"You can't give up on guys that battle all year for you," Matthew said.
Matthew Tkachuk scored the Memorial Cup-winning goal in overtime against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Sunday.
The winner was Tkachuk's second goal of the game and fifth of the week. He opened the scoring in the first period.
The Knights trailed 2-1 late in the third period, before Christian Dvorak tied up the game with 4:11 left to play, setting up Tkachuk's heroics. The win was London's 17th in a row.
Tkachuk - a Scottsdale, Ariz., native and the son of former NHLer Keith Tkachuk - had 30 goals and 107 points in 57 games during the regular season, and 40 points in 20 playoff games before the Memorial Cup. He's expected to be selected in the top five at this summer's NHL entry draft.
The Toronto Marlies' dominant season ended in the most disappointing fashion Sunday, as the AHL club was eliminated by the Hershey Bears - the Washington Capitals' affiliate - in Game 5 by a 3-2 score.
The Marlies fell behind 3-0 and although they made a game of it, couldn't find the tying goal to keep their season alive. The Bears will face the Lake Erie Monsters - the Columbus Blue Jackets' affiliate - in the Calder Cup Finals.
The Marlies were a force all season, finishing as the league's best team with a 54-16-5-1 record. The playoffs, though, were a different story, as the baby Maple Leafs lost seven of 15 games.
Toronto's goaltending was its downfall in the postseason. Antoine Bibeau struggled again in Game 5, stopping only 17 of 20 shots. He ends the postseason with a .900 save percentage and 2.73 goals-against average in 12 games.
Sheldon Keefe: "Our players grew a lot through this."
The Bears, meanwhile, are headed to their 23rd Calder Cup Finals, and fifth in 11 seasons since linking with the Capitals.
Justin Peters was the opposite of Bibeau in the crease for Hershey. He'll play for the AHL's ultimate prize with a .929 save percentage and two shutouts this spring.
Dean Lombardi and company at Team USA headquarters overthought this one.
Phil Kessel was a surprising omission from the United States' World Cup of Hockey team when the full squad was announced Friday, and the decision is no less curious 48 hours later. In fact, it's only becoming more difficult to justify, especially when you look at the numbers.
While Kessel saw a drop in production in his first season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he still managed to score 25 goals, a number most forwards would kill for. More importantly, he's lighting it up in the playoffs. He has nine goals and nine assists in 18 games as the Penguins prepare to play for the Stanley Cup. He now has 22 goals in 40 career playoff games, all the more impressive considering the Toronto Maple Leafs wasted his prime. He rises to the occasion when the competition is the stiffest, which will be the case in the fall at the World Cup.
It's as simple as this: Only one American-born player has more points than Kessel since 2010, and only one American-born player has scored more goals than Kessel since 2010.
Goals since 2010
Rank
Player
Goals
GP
1
Joe Pavelski
183
450
2
Kessel
177
458
3
Patrick Kane
175
414
4
Max Pacioretty
168
395
5
Bobby Ryan
139
439
6
Zach Parise
139
354
7
David Backes
135
445
8
Blake Wheeler
134
452
9
Ryan Kesler
133
413
10
James van Riemsdyk
121
368
11
Ryan Callahan
119
396
16
T.J. Oshie
104
390
25
Brandon Dubinsky
82
381
28
Justin Abdelkader
77
426
Points since 2010
Rank
Player
Points
GP
1
Kane
433
414
2
Kessel
398
458
3
Pavelski
385
450
4
Wheeler
357
452
5
Pacioretty
319
395
6
Ryan
316
439
7
Derek Stepan
305
434
8
Backes
304
445
9
Dustin Byfuglien
288
418
10
Parise
284
354
15
Callahan
251
396
19
Dubinsky
242
381
38
Abdelkader
168
426
Canada proved at the Sochi Olympics that even in a short tournament, the most talented team is going to win. For the Americans to win the World Cup, they need the Kessels of the world on the ice, not - with all due respect - the Callahans, Dubinskys, and Abdelkaders.
"It is what it is," Kessel said Sunday of his World Cup snub. It was the diplomatic answer. The truth is, it's a foolish decision, and the Americans will regret it.
The San Jose Sharks forward let it be known Sunday that he'd rather be watching television hours before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
"I don't like the hoopla too much," Ward said, according to Sports Illustrated's Alex Prewitt. "I'd rather be hibernating, caved up in my room, watching 'Ellen.'"
The "Ellen" watching is working for Ward, and pro athletes are nothing if not creatures of habit. The 35-year-old had the second-best statistical season of his career, scoring 21 goals and adding 22 assists in 79 games. He's been a force in the postseason as well, with six goals and five assists in 18 games.
It's the unheralded guys who go a long way in helping a team lift the Stanley Cup, and the Washington Capitals were open about the fact they missed Ward after they were eliminated in the second round by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Game 1 between the Penguins and Sharks goes Monday at 8 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh.
There are few things to complain about when you're getting ready to play in the Stanley Cup Final.
Case in point, Pittsburgh Penguins leading playoff scorer Phil Kessel is taking a rather level-headed approach to the baffling decision not to include him in Team USA's World Cup roster.
"You're always disappointed, but it is what it is, Kessel told reporters Sunday. "I think I’ve had a pretty good playoffs and I’ve always done pretty good for them when I’ve played (for Team USA). But we are in the Stanley Cup Final, so I can't be that disappointed."
He wasn't the only one surprised by the omission.
Sidney Crosby says he was surprised Phil Kessel was left off U.S. World Cup team. "I just got so used to seeing him" on the national team.
Rutherford said he's "surprised" Kessel was left off of Team USA for World Cup -SK
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) May 29, 2016
Kessel led the American team in scoring at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and is averaging a point per game in the postseason, but the powers that be decided to go a different direction in terms of team building.
The stage has been set for the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks beginning their series Monday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
Who will take home the Cup this year?
Watch on as the Penguins and Sharks battle it out in an NHL 94 simulation of the final. (Hint: it's a sweep.)
Trevor Daley is keeping the door ever-so-slightly open on a return during the Stanley Cup Final.
The Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman suffered an ankle injury on May 21 that effectively ended his postseason, and while Daley admitted Sunday the expected timeline of recovery is four-to-eight weeks, he's not ready to rule himself out completely.
Trevor Daley, whom the Penguins said was out for the season, just smiled and said he wouldn't rule himself out 100 percent. But long odds...