Matthew Tkachuk Laughs Off Brandon Hagel's USA Jab Before 4 Nations Rematch vs. Canada

Matthew Tkachuk laughed at Brandon Hagel saying Canadian players "don't have any group chats going on" after Americans texted about plans for game-opening fights before winning Saturday's 4 Nations Face-Off rivalry matchup.

"Maybe their team doesn't like each other, then, if they don't have group chats," Tkachuk said when asked about Hagel's comments on Wednesday.

Tkachuk continued: "That's just a player enjoying his opportunity. I think that our team does not care about anything that they say."

Hagel and Tkachuk were the first to fight on Saturday when they dropped the gloves just after puck drop.

Play resumed for just seconds before Brady Tkachuk fought his brother's Florida Panthers teammate Sam Bennett. Action paused again at the nine-second mark when J.T. Miller fought Colton Parayko.

Matthew Tkachuk told reporters after the game he had fought in order to "send a message," while his brother said there had been "a little discussion during the day" about the fights.

"There was a group chat going on today," Brady Tkachuk said. "We just reaffirmed we were going to do that. I think Matthew's fight to start it off was just such an energy boost."

When asked about his own opinion on the fights Tuesday, Hagel told reporters he and his teammates were playing "for the flag, not the cameras."

"We don’t need to initiate anything. We don’t have any group chats going on," Hagel said, per Sportsnet. "We’re going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country."

Matthew and Brady Tkachuk's availability for Thursday's championship game appeared to be in question as of Monday. Matthew sat out a round-robin game against Sweden, which Brady left early after suffering an apparent first-period injury.

Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan said Wednesday he expects both brothers to return for the championship game.

The American and Canadian men's hockey teams last played one another with hardware on the line at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, during which a late one-goal lead turned into overtime heartbreak for Team USA. Sullivan will look for the Tkachuk brothers to spark a better result for the Americans at TD Garden.

The puck drops for the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.