Green defends Tkachuk's fire: Senators 'lucky to have this guy'

Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green gave an impassioned defense of Brady Tkachuk after recent criticism suggested the captain might be too fiery for his own good.

"I got asked about this the other night, someone asked about reining in Brady. ... We're lucky to have this guy, for starters," Green told reporters Monday. "He's a skilled hockey player, he's tough, he's mean, he cares passionately about winning, about winning in Ottawa, and he's a very good hockey player. I think if you looked around ... (in) any league, any world, you'd want a player like this on your hockey team.

"I don't think (the criticism) is fair. ... Sometimes when you have something for a little while, you kind of forget what you have."

Tkachuk leads the league with 48 penalty minutes in 20 games this season.

He racked up 21 minutes during the Senators' clash Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. Those infractions included a roughing call in the first period, unsportsmanlike conduct in the second, and cross-checking and fighting in the third. He was given a 10-minute misconduct after dropping the gloves with Dakota Joshua and was unavailable for the final six minutes of the game with Ottawa down by three goals.

Though the Senators would score twice in the last three-and-a-half minutes, they ultimately lost 4-3 for their fifth straight defeat. Tkachuk paces the team with 10 goals and ranks second with 21 points.

Ottawa owns an 8-25-2 mark in games the 25-year-old winger records a fight, per Sportsnet's Alex Adams.

"No one's perfect," Green said. "Is he gonna make the odd mistake that might cost us a goal? Yes, he is. But I'd rather a guy make a mistake being emotional and playing with his passion and his heart than to sit and be meek and make mistakes that way."

He added, "I think people forget this guy is a young guy still and, my God, to go after a guy because he is emotional and wants to win, like really? We want all our players to be emotional and want to win, so to challenge a guy like that ... I think it's crazy."

The Senators will square off against the Calgary Flames at 7:30 p.m. ET Monday. They entered the contest in seventh place of the Atlantic Division with an 8-11-1 record and .425 points percentage.