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3 things Team USA needs to do to beat Canada in 4 Nations Face-off championship
Team USA will need to slow down a Canada offense anchored by Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, and others.
It all comes down to tonight.
TD Garden will host one of the most anticipated hockey games in decades on Thursday, as Team USA takes on Canada in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
Thursday’s showdown, set for an 8 p.m. puck drop on Causeway Street, will feature two hockey juggernauts set to resume hostilities after an epic clash on Saturday in Montreal.
The Americans defeated Canada, 3-1, in that round-robin contest at Bell Centre, but a Canadian team anchored by legends like Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby will be looking to exact some revenge against a U.S. squad hampered by injuries.
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“It’s a Game 7, right? It’s for everything,” Team USA forward and North Chelmsford native Jack Eichel said on Monday. “You’re going to see some desperate hockey. You’re going to see everything you saw in the first game and more, I imagine. … We know we’re going to have to bring our best. They’re going to be better. “
Here are three things Team USA needs to do if it wants to seal the deal and best Canada on hockey’s highest stage.
Take away time and space
Despite a pugnacious start on Saturday, when three fights broke out within the first nine seconds of action, a majority of that showdown between the U.S. and Canada was a tight checking contest with Grade-A looks few and far between for both teams.
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In other words, exactly the type of formula that Team USA needs to adhere to if it wants to beat this uber-skilled Canadian squad for the second time in less than a week.
A track meet favors a team like Canada, which can pile on goals in a hurry behind the likes of McDavid, Crosby, and Nathan MacKinnon.
As such, Team USA made the Canadians work just about every opportunity in the offensive zone in Montreal — limiting the number of odd-man rushes and quality chances Canada could generate by properly managing the puck, making smart, simple plays, and dumping in pucks and winning battles on the forecheck.
“Any time you put that type of talent on the ice, managing the puck is just an essential part of winning,” Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan said earlier this week. “If you mismanage the puck, if you’re careless with the puck, if you chase offense, the unintended consequence of that is you can potentially give easy offense to your opponent. … I think these guys understand what winning looks like and managing the puck is an essential part of winning.”
Some players like McDavid can be a cheat code on the ice when it comes to their knack for making something out of nothing with the puck on their stick.
But if Team USA can take away some of Canada’s speed by turning the game into a slog behind the net and along the boards, they should have the heft and will to win those puck battles and keep Canada’s offense stuck in neutral.
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But it will require buy-in from Team USA’s entire roster, especially when it comes to layering the defensive zone, snuffing out passing lanes with active sticks, and blocking shots.
Team USA also doled out plenty of punishment against Canada on Saturday, headlined by Charlie McAvoy’s heavy hit against McDavid and Brady Tkachuk slamming Drew Doughty into the glass.
McAvoy’s knack for shifting momentum with a bone-crunching hit will be missed on Thursday, now that the Bruins defenseman has been ruled out of the title game. He’s not the same physical presence, but stay-at-home blueliner Jaccob Slavin should be poised for a big game as a top shutdown option for Team USA.
Having both Matthew and Brady Tkachuk cleared for Thursday after dealing with their own injuries stands as a good sign for the Americans, who thrive off both power forwards’ propensity for dragging their teammates into the fight.
“Brady and Matthew, first and foremost, are really good hockey players,” Sullivan said Wednesday. “And they’ve been a big part of the success that we’ve enjoyed to this point in this tournament. I also think they have the ability through their personality to give our team a whole lot of confidence and swagger.
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“I know what this tournament means to them personally and how important it is to put our best game on the ice. So I know they’re excited to play. They’re excited for this opportunity. It’s an unbelievable opportunity. This is as good as it gets with respect to best-on-best.”
Hellebuyck stands tall
If there’s one sizable advantage between these two squads, it’s in net, with Team USA boasting the best goalie trio in the tournament between Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, and Jeremy Swayman.
When Hellebuyck is locked in, the case can be made that he’s the best netminder in the NHL — and one of the few players ready for the unenviable task of slowing down the likes of McDavid and Crosby.
The UMass Lowell product and two-time Vezina Trophy winner has been up to the task so far this tournament, sporting a .957 save percentage in wins over Finland and Canada.
Another strong showing on Thursday would quiet some of the discourse around Hellebuyck, who has struggled in the Stanley Cup playoffs with Winnipeg over the last few seasons (.875 save percentage over 10 games since 2023).
If Hellebuyck can stand tall, the U.S. has to like its ability to put pucks past Canada netminder Jordan Binnington, who is sporting an .892 save percentage during the tournament. Binnington has not had his strongest season with the Blues, but as Bruins fans can attest to, the 31-year-old goalie has a knack for stepping up when the spotlight is on him.
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The last time Binnington was in net at TD Garden in a winner-take-all matchup, he stopped 32 of 33 shots to lift St. Louis to a Stanley Cup victory over the Bruins in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals.
Top stars need to produce
Of course, Team USA also needs to put the pressure on Binnington. No lead is safe against a Canada roster that can lit the lamp in quick succession.
While a top-six line of the Tkachuk brothers and Eichel wreaked havoc on Saturday against Canada, Team USA is going to need some additional offensive contributions from some of its top scorers if it wants to win this tournament.
Team USA captain Auston Matthews is one of the most underrated defensive centermen in the NHL, and his stick work and details have been evident so far in this tournament. But Matthews’ true value lies in his blistering shot, one that hasn’t been utilized nearly enough so far.
Both Matthews and the crafty Jack Hughes have yet to score a goal so far during tournament play, while Kyle Connor — who has seven 30-goal seasons on his resume — has also not lit the lamp while recording just one assist.
The Americans have benefited from several players all across the depth chart pulling their weight this past week. But a goal or two from that Matthews line would make all the difference in a game with plenty on the line.
“I think the whole country — seeing how much pride we take and how much we’re willing to do to have success for everybody — this game is obviously going to be at the pinnacle of it all. We’re going to be ready to go,” Matthew Tkachuk noted.
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