Canada-USA 4 Nations Showdown Lived up to the Hype

MONTREAL — That was… unbelievable.

We knew Canada-USA would be nothing short of cinema. But this game, it was Oscar worthy. 

Before the game started, the Star-Spangled Banner was booed in its entirety by a large portion of a majority Canadian crowd at the Bell Centre. That display wasn’t much a surprise as the U.S. anthem was booed Thursday night when the Americans played Finland in Montreal.  

Now it’s time to play hockey… right? 

On the opening face-off, Canada’s Brandon Hagel and American Matthew Tkachuk dropped the gloves, firing up the benches and the 20,000-plus in the stands. 

Ok so now we can play… Sam Bennett  (CANADA) and Brady Tkachuk (USA) decide to dance on the very next drop of the puck. 

“I had a feeling after Matthew went,” Bennett said when asked if he was expecting to fight. “The Brady came over to me. Yeah, I just feel like it was waiting to happen.”

Two fights out of the way, the crowd is juiced, the boys are finally ready to get the game going. 

The Americans got a shot on Jordan Binnington’s goal, and crashed the net a little too hard for Canada’s liking. A scrum ensued and all of a sudden, you guessed it, Colton Parayko (CANADA) and J.T. Miller (USA) started to dance. 

Within nine seconds of game-time there were three fights. 

Brady said post game that himself, Matthew and Miller had a group chat where the three decided they would liven things up during the game.  

“I think Matthew’s fight to start off was such an energy boost,” Brady said of his brother’s tilt. “I think I was more excited — more nervous than my own, and then Milsy (Miller) to cap it off… It was a pretty awesome experience.”

I thought the players weren’t going to take this “glorified All-Star” game seriously… ya right.

Canadian forward Connor McDavid blew the roof off the Bell Centre, beating Connor Hellebuyck with a backhand shot 5:31 into the game after he bursted through the neutral zone to get in alone on the American goalie.

The crowd was rocking after the home nation got on the board first, but that would be the final time the Canadian crowd would see their team score.

Jake Guenztel tied the game 10:15 into the first after slipping a shot from the circle five-hole on Binnington.  

Dylan Larkin got the Americans ahead 13:33 into the second after scoring the eventual game winning goal. Canadian captain Sidney Crosby’s pass was picked off in the U.S. zone by Matt Boldy, who hit Larkin in transition. The play resulted in Larkin burying a shot blocker side to put the Americans up 2-1.

Canada didn’t have many answers for the American’s defensive pressure. Team USA clogged the neutral zone, making it hard for Canada’s speedy forwards to generate any momentum.

Even when the Canadians had good looks at goal, they were shut down by the two-time Vezina winner, Hellebuyck, who finished the game with 25 saves. 

“For the most part I thought we did a good job of getting pucks in there and trying to get tips,” said Crosby when asked if the Canadians were making too many passess.  “We’ll have to look at it and see if there were opportunities to shoot more. It didn’t feel like that a whole lot — if there were maybe a couple times.

“We got a lot of skill here and guys that are capable of making those kinds of plays. Obviously we want to get  pucks to the net but guys have to trust their instincts too.”

With the win, Team USA can take its Monday meeting vs the Swedes easy as they’ve already punched their ticket to the championship game in Boston. That means there’s no risk in keeping Matthew Tkachuk, who sustained a lower-body injury in the win, out of the line up. 

The U.S. star downplayed the injury which kept him on the American bench for the final 12:36 of Saturday’s game. 

“I feel good,” he said postgame. “Much better after a win.”

USA head coach Mike Sullivan wasn’t as laid back as Tkachuk when asked about the forward’s status going forward.

“He’s being evaluated by our doctors, that’s all I can offer you,” said Sullivan after confirming Tkachuk sustained the lower-body injury. “We’ll make decisions that we think is best for Matthew and is best for our team. Right now I don’t have a lot of information to go on so it’s hard for me to give you more.”

Unlike the Americans, Monday is a must-win game for Canada, otherwise their tournament is done. A regulation win against Finland set up what will be a highly anticipated rematch against the Americans in the championship game.

“In this tournament, all we’ve got to do is win another game and we get them again,” Bennett spoke of a potential rematch with the Americans.

“We just got to play our game,” he added when asked about Monday’s matchup vs. the Finns. “It’s a do or die game. There’s not going to be any lack of intensity in that one.”