Despite being best friends when playing for the Maple Leafs, Team USA captain Auston Matthews admits something surprising about he and Canadian winger Mitch Marner at 4 Nations Face-Off.
There's no denying that there is a very close bond between Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The duo started out together in 2016-17 and have been inseparable ever since.
With the 4 Nations Face-Off taking place in the middle of the NHL's regular season, it has pitted teammates and friends against one another with Matthews and Marner not being an exception to the rule.
To that end, Matthews has publicly admitted that he has not spoken to Marner since they both got off the plane before the start of the tournament.
The last time Team Canada and Team USA faced off against one another in a tournament of this gravity, you'd have to go back to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
However, at the time, Matthews was playing for Team North America that featured players under the age of 25, while Marner wasn't even participating to begin with.
We understood that the rivalry was still alive between both nations, but I don't think we knew the severity of the situation until they lined up against one another on Saturday night, which further explains Matthews and Marner's distance from one another.
Three fights erupted in the first 9 seconds of the first meeting between these two rival nations and the physicality went up a notch compared to their first games of the tournament against Sweden and Finland, respectively.
Overall, it's been a relatively disappointing tournament for both players with Marner having the more impactful moment after notching the overtime winner against Team Sweden.
Matthews, on the other hand, has just 1 assist in the 2 games he has played, butwas ruled out for precautionary reasons against Sweden.
With a lot on the line heading into Thursday's championship game, look for the two cornerstones to duke it one last time before they head back to their roles with the Maple Leafs, who are back in action on Saturday night against Carolina.
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