When a puck caromed off Brady Tkachuk’s skate and into the Philadelphia Flyers net Wednesday night, the Ottawa Senators rookie etched his family name into some rare NHL history.
There have been several father-son duos to have played in the NHL, perhaps most notably Bobby and Brett Hull, who scored at will during their respective eras.
But in terms of fathers who had two sons play in the NHL, the list is small. Narrow it down to fathers who scored and had both their sons score NHL goals and, well, you get a handful of surnames.
Brady’s goal against the Flyers meant he, his brother Matthew (who plays for the Calgary Flames) and his retired father Keith, have all lit the lamp at the NHL level.
Thanks to Brady's 1st career score tonight, the Tkachuks have become the 1st ever entirely US-born family to feature multiple sons & their father all recording a goal in the NHL
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) October 11, 2018
Few other families can make this claim.
Of course, the Howes are on the list. Gordie was one of the best to ever play the game, and his sons Mark and Marty also scored during their respective careers.
The Folignos, with father Mike and sons Nick and Marcus are another.
Peter, Paul and Yan Stastny have done it, too.
The Hextall family took this all one step further. Bryan Sr. scored a bevy of goals during his career while Bryan Jr., Dennis and even goaltender Ron (the Flyers general manager) have all found the scoresheet with a tick in the goal column.
The Patricks are the only family to have had a father (Lester), his sons (Lynn and Muzz) and his grandsons (Craig and Glenn) score in the NHL.
An honorable mention here as well to the Nolans. Ted and son Jordan have both scored in the NHL while son Brandon had one assist with the Carolina Hurricanes during his cup of coffee in the NHL.
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Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck
