The rematch is on.
Following Team Canada’s 5-3 victory over the Finns on Monday, the championship for the 4 Nations Face-Off is set. Canada will take on Team USA at TD Gardens in Boston, looking to avenge a 3-1 loss on Saturday.
Since the USA and Sweden match later on Monday will have no impact on the tournament, there was no point in waiting for that game before writing this piece.
It’s going to be an incredible finale. Hope you’re all excited to tune in.
10 Observations
1. I know it’s ultimately meaningless, but I hated the way Canada ended that game. There’s something about a killer instinct that was lacking from that entire third period and especially late when Finland scored three times to make it somewhat interesting with 1:17 remaining.
2. But like I said, it’s meaningless. Thursday’s rematch is for all the marbles. Nothing that’s happened before matters. And it’s important for the Americans to have that same mentality going into it.
3. Cale Makar returned after missing Saturday’s game with an illness. He played a team-leading 23:57 for Canada and was a +1 with four shots. Not bad.
4. Speaking of Makar, there’s been some talk that he’s dealing with an injury on top of the illness he recovered from. I’m not sure what the injury was and he didn’t look like he was laboring against Finland. It’s still something to keep an eye on.
5. Artturi Lehkonen’s tournament effectively ends with this loss. He’ll head back to Denver shortly. I wonder if he’ll partake in Wednesday’s practice. The Avs are back on the ice at Family Sports at 11 am on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. They’ll obviously be missing Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews, and Makar.
6. Toews played 22:59. His ice-time went up with Makar’s return as head coach Jon Cooper trusts Toews more when he’s playing with Makar. Toews was a +1 and took the game’s only penalty.
7. Big-game performance for MacKinnon. He looked more like the guy who played against Sweden and less like the guy that the US neutralized. Need more of that on Thursday if Canada wants any chance to win this thing.
8. Connor McDavid also had a great start and scored the first goal. Loved Sidney Crosby’s performance too. Again, if Canada has any chance to win, they’ll need all of their top guys to step up. Strong performances from MacKinnon, Makar, McDavid, and Crosby will certainly help. I really do wonder what having Makar in the lineup can do against Team USA.
9. I loved everything about Crosby’s play on the empty-net goal. We already know he’s laboring a bit and probably isn’t playing at 100 percent. That didn’t stop him from laying the body on Mikael Granlund in what looked like an open-ice car crash. He then shot a knuckler into the empty net to put this thing away. Basically, the captain said that’s enough.
10. Jordan Binnington looked solid until he didn’t. You’re probably not going to build a 4-0 lead against Team USA if you’re Canada so you’ll need your starter to put in a 60-minute effort — or at least match Connor Hellebuyck save for save as much as possible.
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