Tkachuks take opening face-off thanks to referee McCauley

Official sets up brothers for draw to start Flames-Senators game

CGY@OTT: Tkachuks take opening draw, battle in Ottawa

By Pat Pickens @Pat_Pickens / NHL.com Staff Writer

January 19, 2020

Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk faced off Saturday, quite literally.

In front of more than 40 family members at Canadian Tire Centre and with the brothers lined up next to each other before puck drop, referee Wes McCauley booted Senators center Artem Anisimov and Flames center Elias Lindholm from the circle and brought in the Tkachuks.

40+ Tkachuks 👀 pic.twitter.com/bSPX60xkD9
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) January 18, 2020

"We weren't going to take the face-off]," Matthew Tkachuk said. "Wes is great. He said, 'If I'm reffing, you guys have to do the opening draw. Your mom will love it.'"
Brady won it.
The face-off was just the cherry on top of a day that included their mom, Chantal, wearing a mic for the television broadcast.
During the second intermission, a pretty amazing photo montage was shown of young Brady and Matthew with then-NHL neophytes Zdeno Chara, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane, likely taken during the playing career of their dad,
[Keith Tkachuk
.
NHL.com Independent Correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report.