Welcome to Instant Reaction — 4 Nations Face-Off edition! Typically, we give our Instant Reaction to Vancouver Canucks games, but since those aren’t happening right now, we thought we’d do the same for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Wow. Collect your breath, everyone.
When the dust had settled, it was Team USA leaving the Montreal portion of the series with a 3-1 win over Canada and an automatic berth in Thursday’s final in Boston.
Canada will spend the next 48 hours wondering where they lost their energy after an incredibly strong first 10 minutes and earning their finals spot with a win against Finland. Results aside, this game (as well as the whole 4 Nations Face-Off so far) lived up to the billing and then some.
The fact that this was the most highly anticipated men’s hockey game in a generation was evident from moment one. The Bell Centre crowd gave the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ the raucous boos it deserved, then sang ‘Oh Canada’ loud and proud. That powderkeg of energy exploded in the first nine seconds of the game, with three(!!) different fights.
First on the fight card were Brandon Hagel and Matthew Tkachuk:
Then little brother Brady took on Matthew’s Panthers teammate Sam Bennett:
And finally, fomer Canuck J.T. Miller instigated a bout with Colton Parayko.
With battle lines drawn and the crowd on full tilt, it was time for Connor McDavid to get cheers from Vancouver for the first time in his NHL career.
McDavid recieved the puck from Drew Doughty, turned on the jets to walk defencemen Charlie McAvoy and then roofed the puck past Connor Hellebuyck to send the Bell Centre into orbit.
1-0 Canada.
The party in Montreal might’ve lasted longer, if not for Canada’s Achilles’ heel showing up: Jordan Binnington letting a muffin from Jake Guentzel slide right through his legs.
1-1 tie.
In the second period, the Canadians still look firmly in the driver’s seat of play, getting good chances that Hellebuyck just keeps turning aside. But eventually Team Canada gets caught on a defensive line change at the worst possible time, the Americans send an odd man rush the other way, and Dylan Larkin slips the puck under the right arm of Binnington.
2-1 USA.
The American defence then went into a shell that would make Rick Tocchet smile, if he wasn’t on the Canadian bench. But Team Canada did themselves no favours either, opting into the kind of overpassing and overthinking that I thought only the Canucks were capable of. Canada simply couldn’t figure out how to work the puck into the netfront for more dangerous chances.
With Binnington on the bench for the extra attacker, Josh Morrissey makes the fatal mistake dumping the puck in from distance that the Americans easily turn the other way and into Jake Guentzel’s second goal of the night.
3-1 USA final.
Canada has a lot of question marks ahead of Monday’s round robin finale against Finland, particularly who will start in goal after two middling performances from Binnington, and how to recapture the offensive firepower they had against Sweden in the opener. Part of that answer will hopefully come in the form of Cale Makar, who missed Saturday’s tilt with an illness that’s made its way through some of the locker rooms. Makar’s lost presence was certainly felt by Canada on their suddenly pedestrian power play.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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