Matthew Tkachuk reveals why we saw 3 fights in 9 seconds.

It will be a moment that hockey fans will remember for years to come and as it turns out there may be 3 people in particular to thank for making it a reality.

Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk has revealed that the incredibly entertaining opening moments of tonight's clash between Team USA and Team Canada were no accident, but instead were a deliberate attempt to send a message on the part of 3 American forwards in particular.

Those forwards, the aforementioned Matthew Tkachuk, his brother Brady Tkachuk, and J.T. Miller, set out to send the message early after discussing doing exactly that in conversations leading up to this game.

"Had to send a message," said Matthew Tkachuk. "We're here in Montreal on a Saturday night and we want it to be our time. Message sent right from the get go."

Matthew would reveal that the 3 men had a conversation via some type of group chat that led to the explosive start of tonight's game.

"That's called me, Brady and Millsy in a group chat during the day," said Matthew when pressed on why Team USA had quite literally come out swinging in Saturday night's game against the Canadians.

Tkachuk acknowledged the tremendous amount of success the Canadians have had in international hockey over the years and it was in large part for that reason that he felt the tone needed to be set early, especially with the Americans playing in a hostile environment like the Bell Centre.

"They've had a ton of success over the last bunch of year and for us to have this opportunity to play them in Canada... a chance to knock off Canada, in Canada, on a Saturday night in Montreal in that type of environment it was incredible," said Matthew. "And it was fun to start like that."

It proved to be a successful formula with Team USA picking up a huge win in regulation over the Canadians on Saturday night.