Brady Tkachuk goes home hot, and Ottawa can't sell out the boos

Brady Tkachuk spent his first five games in a Panthers sweater looking for the net like a guy looking for his car at the Garden after a Bruins loss. Then he scored six goals in four games. Now he goes back to Ottawa on Wednesday, and the Senators can't even sell the place out to boo him.

Look, I respect the timing. You don't get a better revenge game than this.

The slump, then the sauce

By our count, Tkachuk had zero points on 12 shots through his first five games with Florida. Zero, which is a lot of draft-pick currency to spend for a guy whose biggest contribution was the post-whistle shove.

Then he flipped it. Over the next four games he had six goals and four assists on 20 shots, per NHL data. Two natural hat tricks back to back, against Columbus and Vancouver, and he ended the Vancouver one in overtime. The league named him its First Star of the Week.

I'd love to tell you I saw it coming. I did not. Neither did his stick.

Grade on the turnaround: A. Grade on the first five games: the less said, the better.

Ottawa's big night has a ticket problem

As of Monday at noon, more than 2,000 seats were still unsold in a 17,010-seat building, and the Sens have averaged 15,286 through four home dates. They have the most emotional game on their calendar and it's selling like a Tuesday against Utah.

So the boos will come in at about 85 percent strength, which is still loud, just with plenty of room to stretch out.

The Senators are expected to run a tribute video at the first media timeout. That's eight years and five as captain, so it's earned. Expect a split crowd: half standing ovation, half booing a guy who asked out and landed next to his brother in the sunshine. Tough to stay mad at the weather, but Ottawa will try.

He's saying all the right things

"If they boo, well, it just shows the passion that they have for their team, their city," Tkachuk said.

That's a man who has been media-trained by his older brother, who went back to Calgary in 2022 and got the same treatment. Matthew's big takeaway was the visiting room. "It is really weird coming in through another entrance and using the visiting room," he said. Buddy, I'm begging you, tell him where the good coffee is.

The goalie at the other end

Here's the bad news for the Florida bus. Linus Ullmark is stopping .945 this season, per NHL data, and he's 6-1. Tkachuk is going home to shoot on a .945 goalie in front of 15,000 people who are mad at him. That's a lot of plot for one Wednesday.

And yes, I know the history. Every Tkachuk in the Atlantic has made the Bruins' life miserable at some point, so I'm not here to defend Ottawa. I'm here to enjoy it.

My call

He scores, and he does something annoying right after it. Probably a stare at the Senators' bench, maybe a little skate past the glass where the loudest guy is sitting. Grade on the homecoming before it happens: B-plus, with room to move.

I said what I said.