It’s rare to see this kind of scene unfold so clearly, live on television, but there was a special moment involving Matthew Tkachuk yesterday.

You may have already noticed that Tkachuk did not finish last night’s game between Canada and the United States. He didn’t play the last 15 minutes or so, and the moment when his game ended was spotted by the experts at Sportsnet.

At one point early in the third period, Tkachuk got the “GO” to return to the ice alongside his brother (Brady) and his center, Jack Eichel. However, he turned to John Tortorella and told him that he was done and couldn’t go.

It’s rare to see a player self-diagnose like that, stay on the bench with his teammates, and turn to his coaches to say that his game was over, without heading to the infirmary.

A rare scene involving Matthew Tkachuk and John Tortorella live from the Team USA bench

Watch the footage:

We then see Tortorella clearly relaying the message to head coach Mike Sullivan, and Matthew did not play a single second for the rest of the game.

It’s really bizarre to see how it happened, but at the same time, Matthew Tkachuk has played enough hockey and is an experienced enough athlete to know his body well and recognize when to stop.

This will be a case to watch in the coming days.

It doesn’t seem to be a serious injury, which makes it even stranger that he pulled himself out of the game like that. However, his team still won the match.

Matthew Tkachuk says there’s “no concern” with what his undisclosed injury was in the third period vs. Canada

Maybe he just wanted to avoid making it worse.