Matthew and Brady Tkachuk set the tone for Team USA in the opening game against Finland by scoring two goals apiece.
The brothers set a tone against Canada in the second game by starting fights in the opening seconds.
But they didn’t get a chance to set a tone against Sweden on Monday night because of injuries.
Matthew (lower body) missed Monday’s 2-1 loss after sitting on the bench for a chunk of the third period of the Canada game. Brady wasn’t able to finish the Sweden game after he lost his balance in the first period and slid hard into the net.
He went to the dressing room later in the period and returned to the bench. He took one short shift, firing a shot that was stopped by Samuel Ersson, and went immediately to the bench and didn’t skate again.
After not returning in the second period, Team USA ruled him out for the rest of the game.
Brady told TNT before the game that there was no way to keep Matthew out of Thursday’s championship game — Canada advanced after beating Finland, 5-3 — but now USA Hockey will have to hope both brothers can play.
‘We held him out more for precautionary reasons at that point,’ USA coach Mike Sullivan told reporters about Brady. ‘I haven’t gotten an update to this point after the game yet, but we’ll see how it responds, but I don’t anticipate it being an issue.’
The USA was already playing a man short in Monday’s game because Auston Matthews was a late scratch. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy didn’t play, either.
The Boston Globe reported that McAvoy was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital because of his injury.
Sullivan told reporters he hoped to have answers on Matthews’ and McAvoy’s upper-body injuries on Tuesday.
Matthew Tkachuk was asked on TNT how he was feeling about his chances of playing on Thursday. He chuckled, then said, ‘Let’s just say I’m really excited for that one.’