Brady Tkachuk gets sent off after late-game chaos as Senators crush Panthers in hostile Ottawa return

Brady Tkachuk's first trip back to Ottawa went exactly how everyone figured, and the Senators got the last laugh.

Ottawa beat Florida 5-1 on Wednesday night at Canadian Tire Centre, and Tkachuk was sent off with a roughing minor in the final two minutes.

The boos started during warmups.

When the video tribute hit the big screen, fans drowned it out with profane chants, though Tkachuk waved to the crowd anyway.

Then he went and scored, a power-play goal around the 10-minute mark, set up by his older brother Matthew, to make it 1-0 Florida.

Tim Stutzle tied it on the power play late in the first period.

Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto, Warren Foegele and Stephen Halliday piled on from there, and the Panthers saw a three-game winning streak come to an end.

Travis Green said the atmosphere felt like playoff hockey, and Hayden Hodgson and Bokondji Imama even dropped the gloves right after Tkachuk's goal.

Tkachuk had a plan for the debris, too.

He said on his Wingmen podcast that any Senators jerseys thrown on the ice would go to the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, and jerseys and other debris did hit the ice after the final scrum.

Goaltender Linus Ullmark had to be helped off the ice early in the third period after making a kick save, and he did not return.

It was the only downer on the night.

He stopped 16 shots before leaving, and Samuel Ersson finished the game.

Ottawa will be waiting on an update on his status.

Florida visits Pittsburgh on Thursday, and Tkachuk will be back at Canadian Tire Centre on March 18.

Fans in Ottawa will have another shot at him then, and nobody expects a warmer welcome.

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