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Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk will play in the team’s regular-season finale Thursday against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes after missing eight games with an upper-body injury.

The Senators qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2017, and Tkachuk wants to be certain he will be fully ready for the first-round series against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs that starts Sunday.

“I want to make sure that I’m 100 percent right,” Tkachuk told reporters. “I’m going to play 100 percent tonight.”

The 25-year-old forward tallied 55 points (team-high 29 goals, 26 assists) in 71 games this season, his seventh in the NHL since Ottawa selected him fourth overall in the 2018 draft.

He will return to his position at left wing on the Senators’ first line as well as on the top power-play unit.

“It’s just going to be nice to finish off the regular season, finish off the grind that we’ve put ourselves through,” Tkachuk said. “I’ve been feeling great. Started ramping it up this week and been feeling really good — no issues, no problems. I think it’s important to get a game in, get some touches.”

–Field Level Media