Team USA Defeats Canada to Secure Spot in 4 Nations Face-Off Final

In front of a pro-Canada sellout crowd, the United States stepped into a hostile environment and made a bold statement to the hockey world. For now, they are the team to beat.

Jake Guentzel scored twice as the U.S. secured a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game with a 3-1 victory over Canada at Bell Centre on Saturday. The win came in front of 21,105 fans, many of them rooting for the home team.

“That was one of the best experiences of my life, Just an unbelievable hockey game.” : said U.S. forward Dylan Larkin.

The victory marked the United States’ first win against Canada in a best-on-best international tournament since February 21, 2010, when they triumphed in the preliminary round of the Vancouver Olympics. Larkin contributed a goal and an assist, while goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves to backstop the U.S. to victory. With two regulation wins, including a dominant 6-1 performance against Finland on Thursday, the U.S. leads the tournament standings with six points (2-0-0-0). Meanwhile, Canada (0-1-0-1), Sweden, and Finland each have two points. Since a regulation win is worth three points, no team can surpass the U.S. for first place in the round-robin stage. The championship game is set for Thursday at TD Garden in Boston.

“It’s exciting to guarantee to be in Thursday, but we still have a big one Monday (against Sweden), I guess it can be easy to get complacent, but this group—I don’t even think it’s going to get in our mind that we’re happy with where we’re at. I think we know what’s at stake here. We know what our goal has been right from the start, and I don’t think we’re going to stop until we get it.” : said U.S. forward Brady Tkachuk.

Connor McDavid scored Canada’s lone goal, and Jordan Binnington made 20 saves in the loss. However, Canada still has a chance to reach the final with a regulation win against Finland on Monday. If Finland wins in regulation, they will take the remaining spot in the final.

“It was fast, tight-checking, competitive, emotional, It had everything you would want in a hockey game. It [stinks] it didn’t go our way, but this thing’s far from over.” : said McDavid.

The rivalry’s intensity was evident from the opening faceoff, as three fights erupted within the first nine seconds of play.

“Mayhem, That was the first minute.” : Canada coach Jon Cooper described.

Right after the puck dropped, U.S. forward Matthew Tkachuk squared off against Canada’s Brandon Hagel, with only two seconds having elapsed. On the next faceoff, Brady Tkachuk fought Sam Bennett just one second later. After another draw and six seconds of play, J.T. Miller of the U.S. and Colton Parayko of Canada dropped the gloves after a net-front scrum. Miller also received a cross-checking penalty, but the U.S. successfully killed it off.

“I think the message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time, We’re in a hostile environment, and we wanted to show that we’re not backing down. They’ve had so much success over so many years over there. They’re some of the best players in the world. We felt in this environment it was a good time to do it. It was a lot of fun. You’ve got to give credit to those guys, as well. They did the exact same thing that we did. I thought it was great energy from both sides, and the building was shaking after the third one. I’m excited to watch them.” Matthew Tkachuk said.

After the early chaos settled, the game picked up its pace. McDavid struck first for Canada at 5:31 of the opening period. Gaining speed through the neutral zone, he received a pass from Drew Doughty in stride, protected the puck from Charlie McAvoy on his backhand, and lifted it over Hellebuyck’s glove from the right side to make it 1-0. The U.S. responded quickly. Just 26 seconds after McAvoy delivered a big hit on McDavid along the boards, Guentzel tied the game 1-1 at 10:15 with a low shot from the left circle that slipped under Binnington’s pad.

“That also is a message-sending moment; probably one of the plays of the game, They just scored a goal, the building was rocking and Charlie comes there and pops McDavid, like one of the hardest hits I’ve seen.” : Matthew Tkachuk said of McAvoy’s hit on McDavid

McAvoy continued his physical play, landing another big hit on McDavid at 11:55. By the end of the period, he had four hits—two on McDavid and two on Sidney Crosby. Brady Tkachuk also laid a heavy hit on Doughty behind Canada’s net at 15:28. The first period saw a total of 31 hits, with the U.S. registering 17 and Canada 14.

“I thought we did a great job of handling our emotions and hitting when possible, but I thought Charlie was incredible tonight and really led that back end—the whole 200 feet, the physicality, the offense, everything, He was one of our best players for sure, and I think the rest of us, we followed him.” : Matthew Tkachuk said.

The U.S. took the lead in the second period when Larkin broke free on a 2-on-1 with Miller at 13:33. Opting to keep the puck, he fired a shot from the right circle past Binnington’s blocker to make it 2-1. Larkin later shared that he spotted his father in the stands celebrating the goal. His family was seated in the corner of the arena where he had just finished celebrating.

“I got to see my dad jump up, Honestly, just probably one of the more special goals of my career.” : Larkin said.

Canada controlled possession for much of the third period but struggled to break through the U.S. defensive structure. The Americans clogged passing lanes, blocked eight shots, and consistently disrupted plays.

“We had the puck for about 180 feet, we couldn’t get it past that extra 20 feet, and that’s stuff we’ve got to look at, We’ve got to learn from this.” : Larkin said.

For Hellebuyck, the final stretch felt like a playoff game.

“Got a lead and you try to kill the clock,” he said. “Try to garner a little bit of something, but you know the team is going to be pressing, so you’ve got to play perfect hockey, perfect details.”

Guentzel sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:41, making it 3-1. Hellebuyck added three more saves in the closing minutes, finishing with eight in the third period alone. After the hard-fought battle, U.S. coach Mike Sullivan summed it up simply.

“What an incredible hockey game,” he said.

Image Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images