The USA had to play without key forward Matthew Tkachuk for the end of its overtime loss to Canada.
The Florida Panthers star winger sat on the U.S. bench toward the end of the second period Thursday night in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, skating one brief shift before returning to the bench. He was on the bench at the start of the third and never returned to action.
He was originally hurt at the end of the first USA-Canada game on Saturday, staying on the bench near the end of the third period.
Tkachuk missed Monday’s game against Sweden but was in the starting lineup on Thursday on a line with brother Brady.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan said USA assistant coach John Hynes told her that Tkachuk was battling through an injury but said, ‘I can push through this.’ She said he hoped to play a limited role in the third period but that never materialized.
The Tkachuk brothers had been dominant in the tournament. Matthew and Brady Tkachuk each scored two goals in the opener against Finland.
Then both brothers started fights in the opening seconds of Saturday’s game against Canada.
Brady Tkachuk left Monday’s game with an injury and was reportedly dealing with an illness on Thursday.
But he scored the USA’s opening goal and finished the game with five hits.
This story has been updated with new information.