Following a five to three victory over Finland, Canada has advanced to the 4 Nations Faceoff Final where they will take on their neighbour the US for the second time in three games. Canada, coming off a three to one defeat to The States on Saturday came out strong against the Fins scoring three first period goals on 11 shots. Canada, with their fate in their own hands, needed the regulation win to advance and they sat firmly in the driver’s seat for nearly 55 minutes of this game but a late game speed bump almost threw the train off the rails.
With under seven minutes remaining in regulation Finland managed to get one on the board off a bar down snipe from Esa Lindell. Just minutes later with under two remaining Granlund striked again for Finland getting them to within two. Under a minute later the Fins potted another, once again coming from Granlund and Canada had just a one goal lead with a minute remaining. While breaking out of their zone an errand pass to Granlund leads to Crosby recovering the stray puck and icing it in the Finnish net and sealing the game, punching Canada’s ticket to the much anticipated final against their southern neighbour, the United States.
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Canada switched some things up while leaving some glaring issues in their roster going into this game. Head coach Jon Cooper promoted his fellow Lightning player Brayden Point to the first line alongside Connor McDavid and Mark Stone. The lightning star has had a phenomenal tournament up to this point driving play and acting as a shot of adrenaline for the team every time he steps onto the ice. The promotion showed dividend immediately with an early goal from McDavid followed by point getting one of his own later in the period. Canada also went back to Jordan Binnington between the pipes for the third straight game of this tournament. Binnington, although he played well against the US he did give up a few softies that ultimately were the difference makers. Across his career playing for the Canadian national team, Binnington has a sub .900 save percentage including in this tournament. Goaltending was not deemed the team’s strong suit heading into this tournament but they have options available. Adin Hill who’s rode the bench for the first three games of this tournament is chomping at the bit looking for his opportunity which may come against the US on Thursday. Hill, a former Stanley Cup champion, has put up good numbers on the first place in the Pacific Vegas Golden Knights this season. He’s also proven himself Internationally having held the fort down for Canada in the 2021 world championships. The Canadian starter hasn’t looked composed in this tournament and taking a look at Hill could be what the Canadians need to take their second meeting with the US.
A few line shuffles and even a goaltender change likely won’t be enough if Canada looks to capture Gold from the US though. As we saw in their first meeting, the US did a fantastic job of boxing Canada out and keeping them to the perimeter with the puck. The Canadians struggled to generate high danger offence with an Elite trio of Werenski, Fox, and Slavin boxing the forwards out and making them struggle to find open ice. Charlie McAvoy was a beast for the states and appeared to be stapled to the side of Connor McDavid anytime the two were on the ice together, even laying out the body on a few occasions making it frustrating for the Canadian big guns to get going. Canada will have to change the way they play as a whole if they look to steal this tournament from the top to bottom powerhouse States. Firstly they will need to utilize their speed a heck of a lot more off the rush. It’s no easy feat when the US has elite skaters on their backend that can turn on a time, but Canada didn’t use it enough on Saturday. They have the speed and need to try and catch the American defenders off guard as opposed to the stop and turn they consistently played at the US blueline. The addition of Cale Makar will be a monumental to Canada’s chances, having missed their number one defenseman due to illness in the prior meeting. Additionally the US will be without Matthew Tkachuck who has been arguably their best forward in the tournament.
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Most importantly for Canada they need their stars to be game breakers heading into their final matchup. Don’t get me wrong, both MacKinnon and McDavid have consistently put up points, they need these players to make game breaking plays in the heat of battle. We’ve seen flashes of it with McDavids goal to open the scoring last game, however aside from a few bursts from each their overarching game looked flatter than usual and made them not stand out. These are the two best forwards in the world and need to have a full game showing to beat a juggernaut like this year’s USA team. Makar being back will significantly help the backend but he needs to do his thing as well. He’s shown flashes of brilliance against Finland and Sweden, but needs to be that supersonic whirlpool using his speed to enter the zone and draw defenders in at the blue line. If Canada’s top end talent can kick it into their top gear, the Canadians have more than just a fighting chance of bringing home glory to their country.
Without a doubt this has potential to be the greatest game of hockey ever played. The bitterest of rivals in the highest skill era in history. Whether you’re an American or a Canadian the first game between these two was what you’d classify as a “heart in your throat” game. Many of the players competing in this tournament are representing their country for the first time and want to make their nation proud. If there was any doubt about how serious these games would be taken and how hard the players would try, they would’ve been put to rest when the two teams clashed, not twice but three times in the opening nine seconds of Saturday’s tilt, making the ice out to be a gladiator arena more than a surface for sport. Make no mistake NHL teammates or not this is the hottest rivalry in all of hockey and there are no friends when these nations square off.