Brady Tkachuk hit a major milestone Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden - and he did it in style. The Senators' captain notched his 200th career goal as part of a four-point performance that powered Ottawa to an emphatic 8-4 win over the New York Rangers. It wasn’t just a personal achievement - it was a statement game from both Tkachuk and a Senators team that’s starting to feel the urgency of the playoff race.
Coming off a tight 2-1 win over Vancouver the night before, Ottawa strung together back-to-back victories for the first time in a crucial stretch. With the Senators sitting five points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference heading into Thursday, every game now carries weight.
The time for silver linings and “good efforts” is over. This team knows it needs wins - and lots of them - to stay in the playoff hunt.
Tkachuk’s message after the game was clear: these aren’t just games anymore - they’re must-wins. “We need to win these games,” he said.
“We’re getting to the point that we just can’t waste an effort. It doesn’t matter that we’re on a back-to-back.”
And if there were any signs of fatigue from playing the night before, they didn’t show. In fact, the Senators came out flying.
Ottawa jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period, overwhelming the Rangers early and never relinquishing control. While New York made a push in the third, the damage had already been done.
“That was probably the best first period I’ve seen from this team,” Tkachuk said. “And it’s something that we’re capable of doing.”
The Senators played with pace, physicality, and purpose - all hallmarks of their identity when they’re at their best. Tkachuk emphasized that they stuck to their game and made life difficult for the Rangers from puck drop.
“We played to our identity and we’re a tough team to play against,” he said. “Tonight, I thought for the most part, we played a really solid game.”
Still, there were lessons to take from the third period. Goaltender Leevi Merilainen faced more high-danger chances than he should have, and Tkachuk acknowledged that the team needs to tighten up in those moments.
“It’s natural to take your foot off the gas a little bit,” he said. “But we’ve got to play for Leevi there and help him out.”
That kind of accountability is exactly what you want from your captain - especially one who just joined an exclusive club. Tkachuk became just the fourth player in franchise history to score 200 goals, joining Senators legends Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Alexei Yashin. And he did it in 539 games, making him the second-fastest to the mark behind Yashin, who hit 200 in 471.
“Honestly, I had no idea,” Tkachuk said of the milestone. “It’s pretty cool, but I wouldn’t be getting 200 if it wasn’t for my linemates, teammates, and the guys that assisted on that by making great plays and shots for tips. It’s not a one-man show - it’s a team effort.”
That mentality will need to carry over into the weekend. The Senators are back at it with two big divisional matchups - Saturday at home against the Canadiens and Sunday in Detroit to face the Red Wings. Both games are against Atlantic Division rivals, and with 37 games left on the schedule, Ottawa knows it needs to play better than .600 hockey the rest of the way to punch a ticket to the postseason.
The road ahead is steep, but if Tkachuk and the Senators can keep channeling this kind of energy - fast starts, full-team efforts, and a captain leading by example - they’ll give themselves a real shot at getting back to the playoffs for a second straight spring.