SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa. Matthew Tkachuk scored for Florida.
Before the brothers become teammates, the sibling rivalry was on display once again Saturday night.
For the third time in 24 head-to-head meetings, the Tkachuk brothers both scored in the same game. It also happened on Feb. 27, 2021 — when Matthew Tkachuk was playing for Calgary — and on Oct. 29, 2022, the first time they met on the ice after Matthew Tkachuk joined the Panthers.
They'll be on the ice together plenty these next two weeks, as USA Hockey teammates in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament that starts Wednesday.
“It’s going to be way more fun to be on the same side as opposed to playing against him," Matthew Tkachuk said after his three-point night fueled Florida's 5-1 win over Ottawa on Saturday.
Brady Tkachuk opened the scoring for Ottawa in the first period, getting his 21st goal of the season. That tied him with his brother for goals this season — and goals in head-to-head matchups as well, giving them seven apiece in those meetings.
Those stat ties didn't last for long.
Matthew Tkachuk got Florida on the board in the second period, his 22nd of the season and the start of a four-goal outburst by the Panthers in those 20 minutes.
And now, they go from opponents to teammates. They'll be wearing the USA sweater just like their father, NHL legend Keith Tkachuk — a four-time Olympian who had a hat trick during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
“It's going to be amazing,” Brady Tkachuk told Sportsnet before the game in an on-ice interview. “It's something that we've always dreamt of doing together.”
Added Matthew Tkachuk after the game: “To represent my country, to wear that crest, it’s such an honor being able to be on a team that says the United States of America.”
Saturday's game was the first time Brady Tkachuk was on the ice in Sunrise since the postgame celebration on June 24, 2024 — the night the Panthers beat Edmonton in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Brady Tkachuk was there to cheer on his brother throughout the playoffs, and the Senators go into the 4 Nations break firmly in playoff contention.
In his seventh NHL season, Brady Tkachuk has yet to experience playoff hockey. Matthew Tkachuk said he hopes this is the year that changes.
"That's the most special memory, just being able to see my best friend accomplish our childhood dream," Brady Tkachuk said when asked about what being in Sunrise for the Stanley Cup clincher meant to him. “And to see that and see how happy he was, it definitely lit a fire inside me to be able to do it myself. I'm looking forward to that day.”
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) shoots to score a goal past Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) attempts a shot on the goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) reacts after scoring a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) celebrates with center Aleksander Barkov (16) after scoring a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A series of separate meetings between American, Russian and Ukrainian interlocutors entered their third day on Tuesday as U.S. negotiators shuttled back to discussions with their Ukrainian counterparts in the Saudi capital, a continuation of talks with Kyiv officials that began Sunday over a potential ceasefire in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a Kremlin official said Tuesday that the talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh the previous day would likely lead to further contacts between Washington and Moscow, but that no concrete plans have yet been made.
The three days of meetings — which did not include direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations — are part of an attempt to hammer out details on a partial pause in the 3-year-old war in Ukraine. It has been a struggle to reach even a limited, 30-day ceasefire — which Moscow and Kyiv agreed to in principle last week -- with both sides continuing to attack each other with drones and missiles.
Russia and Ukraine have also taken differing interpretations of what a possible partial ceasefire would look like, and disagreed over what kinds of targets would be included in a pause on strikes — even after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the leaders of both countries to advance a deal.
Yet despite the numerous sticking points — the White House has said a partial ceasefire would include ending attacks on “energy and infrastructure,” while the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure” — attempts to secure safe commercial shipping in the Black Sea appeared to garner support in principle from both parties, though no specific agreements have been announced.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday told the country’s state-run Channel One TV station that the Russian and U.S. delegations in Riyadh had discussed “primarily issues of safe shipping in the Black Sea” — a major shipping corridor on which both Russia and Ukraine have ports and coastline.
Lavrov also said that Moscow is up for resuming — “in some form, acceptable to everyone” — a 2022 deal that allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger was a growing threat and high food prices had pushed more people into poverty.
The landmark Black Sea Grain initiative was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey in the summer of 2022; Moscow halted it in July 2023 until its demands to get Russian food and fertilizer to the world were met.
Serhii Leshchenko, advisor to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that U.S-Ukrainian talks in Riyadh on Sunday had included “the security of shipping and infrastructure, including safety for the (Ukrainian) ports of Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson.”
Leshchenko added that the Ukrainian delegation would brief Zelenskyy following renewed talks on Tuesday with the U.S. delegation, adding: “Ukraine is ready to support initiatives that will make diplomacy a means of pressure to compel Russia to end the war.”
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the the outcome of the U.S-Russia talks in Riyadh “has been reported in the capitals” and was currently being “analyzed” by Moscow and Washington, but that the Kremlin has no plans to release further details of what was discussed to the public.
“We’re talking about technical negotiations, negotiations with immersion in details," Peskov said, adding that while there are currently no plans for Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to speak, such a conversation could be quickly organized if the need arises.
“There is an understanding that the contacts will continue, but there is nothing concrete at the moment,” Peskov said. He added that that there are no plans to hold a three-way meeting between Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine.
Senior Russian lawmaker Grigory Karasin, who took part in the Russia-U.S. talks in Riyadh on Monday, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that the conversation was “very interesting, difficult, but quite constructive.”
“We were at it all day from morning until late at night,” Karasin was quoted by the agency as saying on Tuesday.
Speaking about the war in Ukraine, Karasin said Moscow’s and Washington’s positions don’t always align, but that the two parties will continue to look for ways to cooperate, as there is now an understanding that cooperation is necessary to resolve the conflict. The lawmaker added that talks between expert groups from Russia and the U.S. could continue.
The number of people injured Monday in a Russian missile strike on the center of the Ukrainian city of Sumy rose to 101 people including 23 children, according to the Sumy regional administration.
The strike on Sumy, across the border from Russia’s Kursk region which was partially occupied by Ukraine since August, hit residential buildings and a school, which had to be evacuated due to the attack.
Meanwhile, Russian forces launched one ballistic missile and 139 long-range strike and decoy drones into Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force. Those attacks affected seven regions of Ukraine.
Two people were injured after drone debris fell on a warehouse in the Poltava region, administration head Volodymyr Kohut wrote on Telegram Tuesday, while two people were injured outside the city of Zaporizhzhia, according to the head of the region.
One man suffered injuries after a Russian drone attack in Kherson, city administration head Roman Mrochko wrote on Telegram Tuesday.
Associated Press writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a paramedic evacuates an elderly resident whose house was hit by Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a psychologist works with residents of houses which were hit by a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
