It appears that the feeling was mutual between Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel.

Right after the game began on Saturday in the 4 Nations Face-Off match featuring USA and Canada, Tkachuk and Hagel started fighting, tossing their gloves aside to engage in a scuffle.

Their fight was the first of three in the opening nine seconds of the match.

During first intermission, Hagel and Matthew’s brother and team USA teammate, Brady, shared their reactions to the opening fights.

Brady got into a fight just moments following his brother, clashing with Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett.

Brady mentioned to ESPN in an interview during the first intermission that he felt Matthew instigated the fight naturally. He said, “Matthew expressed his desire to fight first, and it just unfolded that way, and now it’s all settled.”

“It’s right when Matthew found out the starting lineup, he said that he wanted a piece of him [Hagel].”

Hagel also opened up about his feelings regarding the opening fight and explained that Matthew asked for the tussle.

Hagel, speaking to Sportsnet during the first intermission, stated, “I don’t really remember much about it. I was just trying to amp up the energy in the arena. When he approached me to fight, I wasn’t going to back down from the challenge.”

“I think me and him have a pretty good history of going back and forth throughout the season,” Hagel added. “I thought potentially if we started together he was going to ask me — long time coming.”

Brady later mentioned the importance of keeping focus for the remainder of the game following the fights.

“It’s obviously an adrenaline rush,” Brady said. “But you have to carry that over into each shift now. It’s all about playing and doing whatever it takes to win.”

“It’s just another game right now. You have to block out all of the noise.”