BOSTON — Team USA is rapidly running out of bodies in the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off.
The already short-handed American squad lost another forward in the first period of Monday’s game against Sweden as Brady Tkachuk didn’t return for the second period.
The Americans started Monday’s game against Sweden with just 17 skaters — 11 forwards and six defensemen — with Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy and Matthew Tkachuk out with various ailments.
Brady Tkachuk crashed into the goalpost on a first-period rush and headed to the locker room.
He briefly returned, first to the bench and then to the ice. But he stayed on the ice for just 14 seconds and spent the rest of the period opening and closing the bench door for his teammates.
He didn’t return for the second period and was officially ruled out halfway through the second. Vincent Trocheck also headed to the dressing room with an injury leaving the Americans briefly with just nine healthy forwards. But Trocheck returned for the second.
Matthew Tkachuk has been out since the third period of Saturday’s game against Canada. Brady Tkachuk had been adamant leading up to Monday’s game that his brother would be back on Thursday. Coach Mike Sullivan has been less definitive.
Earlier in the day, Sullivan said that Charlie McAvoy, who had participated in morning skate, would sit out the game as Jake Sanderson stepped into the lineup. At the time, it looked like Sullivan was just giving McAvoy a night off.
Matthews became the third member of the leadership team to come out of the lineup. He was a late scratch with an undisclosed injury. The fact that McAvoy didn’t slot back in when Matthews went out, indicated that McAvoy was likely dealing with something health-related.
If some of the players aren’t ready to go on Thursday, Team USA could add a player or players on an emergency basis.
Sweden was missing Rickard Rackell, Mika Zibanejad and Linus Ullmark with flu.
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