(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The United States and Canada played a tightly contested, passionate game on Saturday at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal. Jake Guentzel (Tampa Bay Lightning) scored two goals for the U.S., leading the Americans to a berth in the championship game with a 3-1 victory.
Guentzel leads the tournament with three goals in two games, helping Team USA to collect six points in their two wins.
Canada, Finland and Sweden all have two points in the standings, and will battle it out on Monday in Boston to see who will face the United States for the trophy on Thursday night.
Both Matthew (Florida Panthers) and Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators) admitted they were in a group chat with J.T. Miller (New York Rangers) on Saturday to stage three fights to get this game going.
It took two seconds for Matthew to fight Brandon Hagel (Lightning). Brady then summoned Sam Bennett (Panthers) on the ice for fight No. 2 just one second later. And then Miller tangled with Colton Parayko (St. Louis Blues) in front of the Canada net at the nine-second mark of the period.
I'm not a fan of staged fights, and I am not a fan of what went on in this game. Miller could’ve cost his team, because he took an extra cross-checking penalty, but Canada didn’t capitalize on the power play.
I really loved the passion and competitiveness of this game. Every puck was contested, and every battle was hard fought, leaving very little ice to do something with. Both team fought for every inch of the ice.
I do enjoy hard fought hockey and watching such passion on the ice, but on the other side of the coin, I also love to see the skilled players show their stuff. The great players like Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Nate MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), Sam Reinhart (Panthers), Mitch Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs), Auston Matthews (Maple Leafs), Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights), both Tkachuk brothers and Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils) were rendered useless with the close checking.
Please don’t misunderstand, it was a great hockey game with a lot of drama, but my personal preference is to see the best players able to show their great skill.
Many weren’t sold on Canada’s goalies in this tournament, and Jordan Binnington (Blues) didn’t help that perception. He should’ve had both goals he let in.
Leading 1-0 in the opening period, Guentzel was in the left circle on a bad angle and got it by Binnington, who would definitely want that shot back.
In the second period, Crosby made a really bad pass in the offensive zone, and Matt Boldy (Minnesota Wild) sent away Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) on a 2-on-1 rush. The pass was taken away by Travis Sanheim (Philadelphia Flyers), and Binnington just had to get out of his net and make a big save on the shooter.
In the win over Finland on Thursday, U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets) wasn’t called upon to make one difficult save. That changed on Saturday.
McDavid opened the scoring when Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings) hit him at full speed through the neutral zone. He easily split the defense of Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins) and Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets), and roofed a backhand over Hellebuyck’s glove.
The All-Star goalie got his revenge in the third period when he robbed McDavid, who was left open in the slot.
Early on, Hellebuyck stoned Mark Stone (Golden Knights), who came in alone, and also stopped Thomas Harley (Dallas Stars) on an open rebound.
Harley was able to be added to Canada’s roster when it was determined that Cale Makar (Avalanche) was too sick to play.
In the third period, Hellebuyck had to make another bell-ringer save on a rebound left for Anthony Cirelli (Lightning).
The USA goaltender made 25 saves overall.
The three stars of the game were Guentzel, Larkin and McDavid, which I agree with, but Hellebuyck would’ve been next on my list.
One player on Team USA that has really impressed me is defenseman Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes). He is just always in great position to defend. He played 25:36 on Saturday and was plus-3. He had six shot attempts and three blocked shots.
In the win over Finland on Thursday, Slavin played 20:55 and was a plus-2 with two more blocked shots.
If you’re looking for an unsung hero in this tournament, he’s my pick.
The 4 Nations Face-Off continues Monday from Boston, with the afternoon game featuring Canada against Finland, and the night game between Sweden and the United States.