During his career, Brad Marchand rarely misses an opportunity to take a jab at someone, whether it's subtle or directed. That was the case on Thursday night at the TD Garden after Team Canada beat Team USA, 3-2, in overtime to capture the 4 Nations Championship.
Canada won the game 8:18 into the extra session when Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid scored the game-winner to get revenge for a 3-1 setback last Saturday night in Montreal in Round Robin play. Following that game, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk were outspoken after the win, and that chirping carried over to Boston where they continued to talk through the media ahead of the Championship Game. After the game in his hometown arena, Marchand got the last laugh and sent the brothers a message.
Brad Marchand takes a jab at Matthew and Brady Tkachuk after Canada wins the 4 Nations Face-Off
When the tournament started, little did the NHL or many people know just what theater this was going to be. Eight days of players laying it all on the line for their country in the middle of the NHL season. Each game felt like a Stanley Cup Playoff game and the chirping was evident before, during, and after games. The Tkachuk brothers were usually in the middle of it for Team USA and after getting the last laugh Thursday night, Marchand didn't hold back on the brothers.
"They play their game,'' Marchand said. "They do what they do. Sometimes when you shoot your mouth off in the media, it bites you," Marchand said. "You can do that during the season, but when you're playing best-on-best it's different, and they got a little bit ahead of themselves.
"But they're great players and there's not many guys in the league that play the way they do and they're extremely effective, but when you start giving teams ammo, it can work against you as well.
"They're going to have long, great careers. I think you saw how effective they can be at every level. They do it during the season, they did it in this tournament, and they're competitors. They're a big reason why that team is what they are."
Shots fired. Brady Tkachuk tied the game in the first period of Thursday with a goal and played well the entire night and really the whole tournament when he was healthy. He left Monday night's game against Sweden with an injury.
The same couldn't be said for Matthew Tkachuk who missed a majority of the tournament after suffering an injury in Saturday night's game against Canada. He missed nearly the entire third period, didn't play against Sweden, along with Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and missed a majority of Thursday night's game.
That injury didn't stop Matthew Tkachuk from running his mouth, something that Brady Tkachuk does following in his brother's steps. Regardless, they are both good players and Marchand was right, they do have long and great careers in front of them, but for one week, the chirping didn't do them any favors as it has done in the past. Canada and Marchand got the last laugh this time around.