Senators' Brady Tkachuk makes feelings known on first-round exit to Maple Leafs: “Still not over it”

Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs after losing 4-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference first round. The loss marked the end of Ottawa’s first playoff appearance since 2017.

Brady Tkachuk, Senators' captain, expressed his disappointment after the game.

“Honestly, I haven't really had much time still, so fresh on, still, really disappointed,” he said.

He reflected on the team's strong season and how different it felt compared to previous years. Tkachuk admitted that he was still struggling to accept the loss.

"And, yeah, still, still not over it, to be honest, yet still wish we were playing game seven tonight. And yeah, so I haven't really had time to think about now this year what the future entails," he said.

Even though they didn’t win, Brady Tkachuk believes the experience will help the team next season.

"I think I said after the game that everything happens for a reason, and I think it's going to create that much more excitement for this group for next year, and what we're able to do and help, and that we have each other, to do all these be done," Tkachuk said.

Max Pacioretty scored the game-winning goal for the Leafs with just over five minutes left in the third period. Even with strong efforts from Tkachuk and David Perron, Ottawa couldn’t keep up with Toronto’s late push.

Tkachuk also shared that the loss was tough to take.

"It’s devastating," he said, via NHL.com. "I really believed we could win."

The Maple Leafs will now move on to face the Florida Panthers in the next round.

Brady Tkachuk opens up about hip and upper-body injuries

Brady Tkachuk shared that he played through a hip injury from the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. The injury happened during the game against Sweden on February 17 when he collided with the goalie.

"The hip happened that Sweden game, took some time coming back to try to get it as good as possible … now it’s just, take the time to get that all healed up ... it could heal up in the next couple of weeks," Tkachuk said.

Tkachuk tried to recover but missed Ottawa's first two games after the tournament. He returned to play in the final against Canada. Later in the season, Tkachuk dealt with an upper-body injury that kept him out for eight games.

He returned to action on April 17, just before the playoffs. Tkachuk didn't specify the exact nature of the upper-body injury.