United States beat Canada in epic heavyweight bout at 4 Nations Face-Off
The Americans take round one, but Canada can still join them in next week's final.
The United States punched their ticket to the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday night, beating Canada 3-1 in a fiery game at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Ignoring the request from the public address announcer at Bell Centre, the crowd met the American national anthem with a loud chorus of boos — not because of the fierce rivalry between the two nations in Canada’s beloved sport, but matching a recent theme of doing so after President Trump’s recent threats to annex the country.
The battle on the ice didn’t take long to rekindle either after almost a decade without best-on-best men’s international hockey. From the first puck drop, Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel dropped the gloves, and the second after play resumed Brady Tkachuk joined his brother in the box after fighting Matthew’s Florida Panthers teammate Sam Bennett. Nine seconds into the game, after the Americans got a shot on goal, Colton Parayko and J.T. Miller dropped the gloves as well, with Miller getting another two minutes for instigating it with a cross-check.
Up 2-1 in the fight department, with Hagel and Parayko winning their bouts, Canada struck first on the scoreboard as well thanks to some Connor McDavid magic. The Oilers captain flew up the middle of the ice, collecting a pass from Drew Doughty before beating a pair of defencemen and backhanding the puck into the top corner of the net, reigniting the crowd again.
The Americans tied things up five minutes later, just after the halfway point of the opening period. Jack Eichel passed the puck out wide to Jake Guentzel, who closed in on goal from a tight angle and beat Jordan Binnington with a shot through his legs.
Binnington got some payback shortly after with a point-blank save to deny Guentzel. Auston Matthews had a chance to silence the crowd seconds later with the one-timer in front of the net that has made him one of the best goalscorers in the sport, but on this occasion he sent it wide.
The referees were able to calm things down a bit after the early mayhem, but both teams were playing with emotion and throwing everything into every hit. Charlie McAvoy was one of the busiest players all night, laying out McDavid several times and steamrolling anyone in his path.
When play resumed at the start of the second period, Dylan Larkin had an opportunity right in front of the net but was denied by the post. He redeemed himself later in the period, picking up the puck in his own defensive end and charging up the ice during a Canadian line change before firing a shot across goal to give the United States the lead.
It was another goal Binnington would have wanted back, not reacting fast enough as the puck sailed over his pads into the back of the net.
The second period was just as physical as the first, albeit without the fights, with the Americans in particular throwing some huge hits. They also got another excellent start from Vezina Trophy frontrunner Connor Hellebuyck — who made key stops all night when called upon.
It was a relatively even game through 40 minutes, with both sides getting 18 shots on target and the defensive units performing at an elite level — even with Canada missing Cale Makar missing out with an illness and Shea Theodore injured.
The crowd in Montreal was getting restless as Canada continued to push for an equalizer, but momentarily reignited when Thomas Harley — who was only brought into the team earlier in the day to replace Makar — laid out Jack Hughes with a big hit. The Canadian physicality continued to pick up, and Sam Bennett sent Jaccob Slavin flying with an open-ice hit in front of the American net as well.
Binnington found some rhythm in the third period with a big save on Matt Boldy and a double-save on Vincent Trocheck and Guentzel, but it was too little, too late with Canada unable to beat his counterpart. Guentzel got the last laugh, scoring into the empty net late to make it 3-1 with his second goal of the game as Canada opted for an extra skater.
With a 2-0-0 record, the United States clinched a spot in next week’s final in Boston. Canada could book their ticket to final with a regulation win over Finland on Monday or a Sweden loss to the United States, among other scenarios.
True North Player of the Game:
Jake Guentzel, United States
Guentzel scored the opening goal for the Americans to tie the game, and put the game to bed late in the third period with an empty-netter to make it 3-1. This award could have easily gone to American netminder Connor Hellebuyck as well after yet another strong performance in net.
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