The intense 4 Nations Face-Off game at Montreal’s Bell Centre resulted in a 3-1 victory for Team USA over Canada, disappointing the majority of fans. Team USA now has six points and a spot in Thursday’s championship game, while the remaining teams have two points each. Monday’s matchups will determine who will challenge the Americans. Here is the 4 Nations Face-Off standing.
Evaluation of teams: Team USA A
The United States Team USA’s resounding victory over Finland on Thursday provided much-needed confidence before facing their archrivals. However, it was also necessary to provide proof of concept for this roster. It formed two scoring lines, led by Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. It demonstrated that star players on their NHL teams could transition to role players on the national team, such as Dylan Larkin, who scored an important goal against Canada. It was a victory that demonstrated the Americans’ poise and control of their emotions.
Everything Team USA demonstrated against Finland carried over into their game against Canada on Saturday, highlighted by Connor Hellebuyck‘s outstanding performance in goal. In one of the most challenging conditions imaginable, the Americans gave an all-out team effort, thriving in the midst of chaos.
Canada may cite Cale Makar’s absence and the game’s lower stakes following Sweden’s overtime loss to Finland. Meanwhile, the Americans, who have been missing Quinn Hughes for the whole tournament owing to injury, will gladly take that into account as they return home after a momentous triumph. The victory not only ensured their berth in Thursday’s final game in Boston, but it also ended Canada’s 17-game “best-on-best” tournament winning streak, according to ESPN Research.
Canada: B
Judging Canada’s total performance based on a single play may be harsh, but in a matchup between the tournament’s two most talented teams, even the tiniest margin might mean the difference. In the second period, Matt Boldy intercepted a Sidney Crosby cross-ice pass, which was worsened by a line change that exposed Canada. What is the end result? An odd-man surge the other way resulted in Dylan Larkin’s crucial goal.
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Costly mistakes are often exacerbated when facing elite competition, particularly reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, who is on track for another outstanding season. Despite creating multiple high-danger opportunities late in the game, Canada was unable to recover from the critical error that resulted in Team USA’s game-winning goal.
Connor Hellebuyck is regarded as the best goaltender in the world, having won the Vezina Trophy last season and emerging as the frontrunner to claim it again with the Winnipeg Jets this year. However, skeptics point to his struggles in high-stakes moments, citing his 33-49 career playoff record and consecutive first-round exits with a sub-.890 save percentage. While some questioned the goal he allowed against Finland, he was otherwise rock-solid.
Perhaps the antagonism was boiling over in the only manner it could. Perhaps Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers felt forced to drop the gloves after seeing his NHL opponent Brandon Hagel of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the starting lineup, as speculated by his brother Brady Tkachuk. Perhaps the Tkachuk brothers were honoring their father, Keith, who once set the record for the shortest fight in an NHL international game at 20 seconds during the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
The Tkachuks and J.T. Miller swiftly eclipsed that record as they faced Hagel, Sam Bennett, and Colton Parayko. Whatever caused the three clashes in the first nine seconds of the USA-Canada encounter, it escalated into a round-robin rivalry game became a cultural moment. Even people who don’t often watch hockey were talking about it, which is exactly what the NHL hoped for from this tournament—even if the trigger for that rise in interest was completely unexpected. The best hockey rivalry, USA vs. Canada, has reached new heights, with a possible rematch looming next week.
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