Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk delivered a blatant cheap shot on Leafs winger Alex Nylander on Tuesday, leading to Simon Benoit intervening.

Regular season, pre-season, it doesn’t seem to matter when Brady Tkachuk is on the ice. Nobody is free from his incessant jabs, bumps and cheap shots. On Tuesday, it was Maple Leafs winger Alex Nylander who found himself the subject of an unexpected bump from Tkachuk after the whistle, which sent him crashing to the ice in a heap.

During the second pre-season game between the provincial rivals in the Battle of Ontario, Ottawa Senators’ captain Brady Tkachuk delivered a hard hit after the whistle on Nylander mid-way through the first period.

After Anton Forsberg swallowed up a shot to force a whistle, Tkachuk shoved Nylander in what looked like a retaliatory act as the broadcasters made mention that the young forward was upset about a previous non-call.

Maple Leafs’ defenseman Simon Benoit took exception of the aforementioned cheap shot and darted towards Tkachuk during the whistle. Both players earned coincidental minors for roughing but nothing was called on the initial late hit.

Nylander is fighting for a roster spot and a potential injury would derail such an opportunity.

Fortunately, Nylander was okay after the collision as he had skated nearly 10 minutes through the first 2 periods of the game with 1 shot on goal and 2 hits.

I should probably mention that Ryan Reaves was given the night off by Leafs head coach Craig Berube, so perhaps Tkachuk was walking around just a little bit taller than he may have had Reaves been dressed.