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Team Canada will travel to the TD Garden to face off against a solid USA team tonight in the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship. As great as rivalries can come, Canada vs USA will be a spectacle to witness.
It all comes down to this moment, so be sure to tune in to watch the legendary rivalry between the United States and Canada with the puck dropping at 8 PM ET tonight.
Canada began the tournament with a strong 4-3 statement match against Sweden, with top-quality players like Sydney Crosby pulling off a triple-assist game to help win in overtime.
They’d then face a devastating US Team at the Bell Centre in Montreal, where Canada’s Connor McDavid would take the early lead. Just 5 minutes later, USA’s Jake Guentzel would net the first of the game for the US before he’d score once again in the 3rd period after Dylan Larkin added an insurance goal for the US in the 2nd. It was a rough patch for Canada, although they would outshoot their American counterparts by 3 shots.
Their performance against the previous 2022 Winter Olympic gold medalists of Finland would be much better, winning 5-3 with Connor McDavid once again opening the scoring. Nathan MacKinnon would net another goal immediately afterward before tucking away a second in the 2nd period. Finland found 3 goals in the final period to give the Canadians a scare, although Sydney Crosby capitalized on an empty netter to end the game for Canada.
If they can keep their composure and collectivism throughout the game, even after gaining an early lead, Canada could find a formula for success against the mighty US.
While the United States looked to have a relatively breezy start to the 4-Nations group stage, destroying Finland 6-1 and then edging out Canada 3-1, they’d stumble against their most recent opponents of Sweden. Surprisingly though, USA’s Chris Kreider would end up scoring just 35 seconds in the game.
As the US looked to have an impressive start against the Swedes, Gustav Nyquist would be the first to answer and tie the game at 1-1 before Jesper Bratt would score the final goal of the game in the first period, leaving the rest of the game to be unanswered at a 2-1 scoreline.
The United States outshot Sweden 33-23, yet they found an issue in hitting the back of the net past Samuel Ersson with 32 saves. Of course, having Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Charlie McAvoy injured on the bench didn’t help the US’s cause.
Regardless, Sweden would get knocked out of the tourney, leaving the USA to move on to the final round with 6 group stage points to face Canada on American ice. The United States still has 10 goals scored in three games, while only allowing 4 to enter their own net. Their one downfall in this case could be from a compilation of team injuries, including the latest of which being Brady Tkachuk receiving a blow during the game against Sweden.
Brady Tkachuk ensures he will be ready to face a vengeful Canada, although this may not be the case for Matthews, McAvoy and brother Matt Tkachuk, who claims he will suit up for the game but will likely not be 100%. If the United States can’t put their top 1st line on the ice, they will have to improvise with the talent they’ve got on the roster.
It may very well be Jake Guentzel and Kyle Connor’s chance to be an American hero with an expected 1+ goals to lead the US. Canada will put forward everything they’ve got with Sydney Crosby, Brad Marchand and Connor McDavid paving the way, as Crosby is more than likely to assist his teammates at least once throughout the game. Overall, this will be a bloodbath, one of the main reasons we all love to watch the game of ice hockey.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.