Well, Vancouver Canucks fans, we’ve finally made it. The Championship Game is here, and we’ve got the matchup hockey fans were all hoping to see. Now, it might have been more enjoyable for Canucks fans to watch one of their own players in the tournament. However, all the Canadian fans will get to cheer on Rick Tocchet for Team Canada.
Let’s get into the preview.
Start time and info
Coverage for Team Canada vs. Team USA kicks off at 5 PM PST / 8 PM EST from TD Garden in Boston.
This game can be streamed on Sportsnet.ca in Canada (subscription required), TVA Sports (subscription required) and Disney+ (subscription required). Other streaming platforms to watch the game (outside of Canada): ESPN and ESPN+.
Projected lines
Here are the projected lines for today, provided by Daily Faceoff.
Seth Jarvis re-joins the Canadian lineup. Travis Konecny will sit.
After missing practice after leaving the game against Team Sweden, Brady Tkachuk re-enters the lineup. Chris Kreider looks to hold his spot with Kyle Connor sitting.
Starting goalies
Jordan Binnington gets the nod tonight for Team Canada. He will have started all four games for the Canadians this tournament.
Connor Hellebuyck returns to Team USA’s crease after sitting out against Team Sweden. This will be his third start of the tournament.
Players to watch
Team Canada has been getting all the contributions from their big boys. Sidney Crosby has a share of the tournament lead with five points, Connor McDavid trails by one with four, and Nathan MacKinnon has three. But what about their big-time contributor on the backend?
It’s been a difficult tournament for Cale Makar, who’s looked fantastic but has been battling an illness. He missed the first game against the Americans and has been surprisingly held pointless despite creating multiple scoring chances and the Canadians scoring nine goals in his two games. Look for Makar to find the scoresheet tonight.
All eyes are going to be on Jordan Binnington. Canadian head coach Jon Cooper has followed through with his commitment to his starting goalie. But he has looked shaky at points, allowing some questionable goals but making some impressive saves as well. Binnington is not shy from the big moment, especially in TD Garden. The Blues goaltender walked into Boston and shutout the Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We’ll see if the Canadians can get that same Binnington tonight with the Championship on the line.
The easy answer would be to watch for the Tkachuk brothers to make an impact. However, it has been a bit of a quiet tournament for Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes. The two played on a line together through the first two games and have just one point each – assists on Jake Guentzel’s goal vs Finland – to show for it.
It’s a bit surprising that Jack Hughes has not found the back of the net yet. He had three shots against Finland, two shots against Canada and a whopping five shots against Sweden. Look for him to light the lamp tonight, especially after his brother Quinn wasn’t able to join the Americans after all.
Speaking of American defenceman Zach Werenski has proven he’s in the upper echelon of NHL defenders this tournament. Filling in for Hughes, Werenski shares the tournament lead with five points (all assists) through three games of the tournament. He has picked up a point in each game, including two power play points in the tournament opener.
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