Having already punched a ticket to the 4 Nations Face-Off final, it looks like Matthew Tkachuk is sitting out Team USA's penultimate game of the tournament.
The Florida Panthers forward did not participate in the team's morning skate on Monday and watched from the side. Chris Kreider was tapped as his replacement.
The Americans play Sweden in the final game of the round-robin on Monday night.
Other lineup changes include a swap of defencemen, with Jake Sanderson coming in for Charlie McAvoy, and Jake Oettinger getting the nod to start in net. Connor Hellebuyck started for the USA in the previous two games of the tournament.
McAvoy is dealing with an upper-body injury and his status for Thursday's final is "very much up in the air," according to a report from 98.5 The Sports Hub's Ty Anderson.
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Thanks to a win over Canada on Saturday, the U.S. became the first team to punch its ticket to the 4 Nations final.
Tkachuk suffered a lower-body injury in Saturday’s fight-filled win over Canada. The 27-year-old skated just 1:13 in the third period after testing out something that seemed to bother him. He appeared to tell assistant coach John Tortorella at one point that he “couldn’t go.”
Asked about the injury following the game, Tkachuk brushed off any concern, but head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters on Saturday that the forward was still being evaluated.
The elder Tkachuk has scored two goals and three points in this tournament, all of which came in the opening game against Finland.
Brady Tkachuk, according to NHL.com, said his brother Matthew would be good to go for Thursday's final.
Watch the game live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
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