The United States and Canada will meet Thursday at TD Garden in Boston in the championship game of the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off, the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.
It’s a rematch of their hard-fought (literally, with three fights in the first nine seconds) round-robin matchup, a 3-1 victory for the United States in front of a fiercely pro-Canadian crowd in Montreal last Saturday.
That game, combined with the Americans’ 6-1 victory in their tourney opener against Finland on Feb. 13, assured the U.S. of being designated the home team in the title game. Canada qualified by holding off Finland 5-3 on Monday after nearly blowing a 4-0 lead in the final seven minutes.
Sweden’s 2-1 win over the U.S. on Monday night was merely a victory of pride for the Swedes and a title tune-up for the Americans.
It’s been a great week of hockey, and the championship game should only add to the tournament’s legacy. Here are five things we’ve learned from the 4 Nations event.
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‘A celebration of hockey‘
The NHL ditched its All-Star Weekend and carved two weeks out of its schedule for the 4 Nations tournament. Whoever came up with the idea should get a huge bonus.
Instead of a skills competition and a game no one cares about, we’ve gotten fast-paced games played by NHL stars who are giving their all for their countries. The only blowout among the six round-robin games was the U.S. victory against Finland, and even that was a 2-1 game through two periods.
Fans have responded. Television ratings went through the roof for the first USA-Canada game, averaging 4.4 million viewers on ABC. That doesn’t count the millions more who watched in Canada – or those who tuned in from Finland and Sweden. The championship game will be shown on ESPN at 8 pm ET.
“I think it’s a great celebration of hockey,” Team USA coach Mike Sullivan said. “It really is. I mean, there’s some of the generational talents on both sides.
“To watch what these guys do on the ice, at the pace that they’re able to do it — sometimes we just marvel at what goes on out there with some of these guys.”
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International hockey’s biggest rivalry renewed
None of the 23 U.S. players were playing in 2010, when Sidney Crosby scored the “Golden Goal” in overtime that gave Canada a 3-2 win against the United States in the gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. For the new generation of U.S. players, meeting Canada in the 4 Nations championship game is a huge chance to grow the sport.
“It’s the dream scenario,” said 23-year-old Matt Boldy, who starred for the U.S. when the Americans defeated Canada to win gold at the 2021 World Junior Championship, played in Canada. “It’s the biggest game that I think I’ve ever played in my whole life. That’s the matchup you want. For us. For them. I’m sure, for TV. For everything. It’s the most exciting game.”
This is one time when the U.S. hopes history doesn’t repeat itself. The Americans defeated Canada in the round-robin portion of the 2010 Olympics only to lose the championship game.
Sid passes the torch
Crosby has been the face of international hockey in Canada for nearly two decades. He has two Olympic gold medals and was MVP of the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 to go along with his three Stanley Cup rings.
“Sid the Kid” is 37 now, and although he’s still an elite player, he’s currently Canada’s second-line center. Connor McDavid is clearly the engine that makes Canada’s offense go. Crosby’s lone goal was the empty-netter that sealed the win against Finland. Of course, he also has four assists in the tournament and five points so far.
Big game meet big-game player.
Meanwhile, McDavid’s speed and skill are evident every time he takes the ice. His game-opening goal against the United States on Saturday came when he raced through an opening in the defense and whipped a perfect backhander into the net. His goal against Finland came after he intercepted a pass at the blue line, patiently waited for an opening and used a screen to pick a corner.
Crosby is Canada’s captain. But McDavid is its star.
Goalie duel awaits
The U.S has gotten the best goaltending in the tournament. The Americans will need it in the championship game.
Connor Hellebuyck, who’s all but assured of repeating as winner of the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender in the NHL, allowed one goal each win against Finland and Canada. The Finns didn’t generate much offense in the second half of the game, but Canada pressed the attack all night only to be frustrated by Hellebuyck, who allowed one goal on 3.36 expected goals against, per Natural Stat Trick.
Sullivan gave Hellebuyck the night off on Monday, and backup Jake Oettinger allowed two first-period goals in the loss to Sweden.
Canada’s received solid play from Jordan Binnington, who’s allowed eight goals while playing all three games. Binnington will be playing in the building (TD Garden) where he won the biggest game of his career, a 4-1 victory against the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final that gave the St. Louis Blues their first championship.
U.S. must overcome key injuries
The United States is pretty banged up entering the championship game.
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy definitely won’t play. The Boston Bruins said Tuesday he was admitted to a hospital for testing related to an upper-body injury sustained during the tournament. McAvoy, who leveled McDavid with a huge hit on Saturday, didn’t play against Sweden.
Neither did center Auston Matthews nor forward Matthew Tkachuk. Matthews sat with upper-body soreness, and Tkachuk got the night off after leaving in the third period of the win against Canada with a lower-body injury. Brady Tkachuk left during the first period against Sweden, also with a lower-body issue.
The Tkachuk brothers both said they’ll be ready Thursday, and TSN reports that Matthews’ soreness is considered minor.
“I would anticipate we would (get players back Thursday),” Sullivan said after Monday’s loss. “We’ll have to wait and see how things play out here over the next day or so, but obviously there will be contingency planning in the event that we need people.”