Notes, top players from the exciting victory of the USA against Canada

Notes, top players from the exciting victory of the USA against Canada

A face-off game with 4 nations that started with three fights in nine seconds produced some of the best hockey that have been exhibited recently. The result: a 3: 1 victory for the United States via Canada, much to dismay the majority of fans in the Bell Center in Montreal.

The victory gives the team six points and wins a place in the championship game this Thursday. Each of the other teams has two points so that the matchups determine on Monday who the Americans stand against the title:

Here are grades for the USA and Canada, our biggest snack bars, important players in the next game and continuing questions.


Evaluation of the teams

United States: A

Team USA’s opening victory against Finland on Thursday was the kind of emphatic, reliable victory that the Americans needed before they stood their arch -rivals. But it was also important for the Proof of Concept about this squad. It established two goal lines that were anchored by Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. It was shown that star players in their NHL teams could adapt to role players in the national team – players like Dylan Larkin who scored a critical goal against Canada. It was a victory that showed the Americans as balanced and under control over their emotions.

Everything they exhibited in this matchup with Finland informed these efforts against Canada on Saturday and underlined through a strong performance by Connor Hellebuyck in the goal. It was a victory in the most hostile environments for the Americans, a total team effort in a cyclone of emotions.

The Canadians will notice the lack of Cale Makar and that the importance of the game after Sweden was reduced against Finland overtime. The Americans – of course quinn Hughes are missing for the entire tournament due to injuries – will surely take this under advice if you travel home to celebrate an epic victory and get a place in the championship game on Thursday in Boston and Canada ended 17-game winner “best-am best” tournament, via ESPN research. – Greg Wyshynski

Canada: B-

Perhaps it could be considered unfair to be unfair if it can be emphasized about Canada’s overall performance. But in a game between the two most talented teams in the tournament there would be little separation.

The Americans found this separation in the second period, with Matt Boldy opened a Sidney Crosby Cross-Ice Pass, which was further reinforced by changing the line. With this, a strange skater stormed in the other direction, and Dylan Larkin shot a shot for what turned out to be a gay in the second period.

Errors often have the potential to prove to be expensive, since the idea that misconceptions are further reinforced by the incumbent Vezina Trophy winner in Connor Hellebuyck, who was able to win the award again this season. Despite the plenty of high Danger class opportunities that Canada later created in the game, it was not sufficient to overcome the mistake that led to the American gaming goal. – Ryan S. Clark

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Dylan Larkin delivers the Go Shead goal for the team in the second period

Dylan Larkin uses a 2-on-1 situation for Team USA and buries the puck to give his team the lead.


What we learned

Hellebuyck answers the critics

Connor But the 31-year-old American has his critics, who point out his lack of success when it comes to the most important thing: in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where he has a 33-49 career record and consecutive first round with outputs under a savings. 0.890.

While some believed that the goal he revealed against Finland was underlining, he was the rest of the way solid. Against Canada he gave Connor McDavid a goal in the hurry – which NHL goalkeeper does he not have? – But was an impressive last line of defense in the rest of the path with 20 parades, which achieved some big stops in the third period.

Hellebuyck was one of the players in this tournament who needed a strong performance to cement his confidence as a starter for the 2026 Winter Olympics in front of a very crowded field. So far he has made an explanation. – Wyshynski

Canada found countermeasures, but still missed Cale Makar

Even with the defender of Dallas Stars, Thomas Harley at a stand by, there were questions that Canada had to answer when it came to effectively replacing one of the best defenders in the game. Makar ended with overtime victory against Sweden with a little more than 28 minutes of ice age at Canada’s overtime victory. It was the best of every skater for both teams.

Makar’s absence went beyond his ice age. It meant finding someone who was able to work with the units of the first team power play and penalty killing. Canada turned to Josh Morrissey to operate on the power play at Makar, only to end 0 to 2. As for Harley, he ended with two shots in 18:47 Ice Time. It is not overrated to say that Canada Makar remains against Finland for the game on Monday. – Clark

Historical, chaotic start

Maybe it was the feelings of rivalry that manifested as well as they could have. Perhaps it was Floridas Matthew Tkachuk who saw Brandon Hagel, an NHL competitor with the Tampa Bay Lightning, in the starting line -up and could not be able to hand over the gloves – which was the theory of Brady Brady Tkachuk. Perhaps it was the Tkachuk brothers who honored her father Keith, who had a share of the record for the earliest fight in an international NHL with 20 seconds during the 1996 Hockey Championship.

This is a record that fights against hail, Sam Bennett and Colton Parayko from the Tkachuks and JT Miller. Whatever three struggles motivated in the first nine seconds of the US showdown against Canada, it became a cultural moment on Saturday evening in a round-road tournament. People who do not talk about hockey talked about hockey what the NHL wanted from this tournament – even if the catalyst was something for this interest that nobody could predict.

The best rivalry in hockey, USA against Canada, just got better with a return game that may have fallen from the water next week. – Wyshynski

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USA, Canada fight three times in the first 9 seconds of the game

Three players from the USA and Canada are punished for three fights in the first nine seconds of the game.

Where were the individual displays for Canada when they needed goals?

With a view to this game, it was a warm debate about which side was more talented. The way in which Connor McDavid found space and passed Charlie McAvoy after the first goal of the game was probably the strongest example that those on the Canadian side had correctly.

But outside of this lonely moment? Many of the Canadian stars fought to find the necessary openings that would enable them to use their talent. The most obvious example came in the third period when the reigning hard trophy winner Nathan Mackinnon used his speed at a zone entry to rethink his approach when Jaccob Slavin arrived to take a path to the network.

Much of the frustration had to do with the fact that the Americans had rely on a close structure, which made it difficult until later in the third period to find these chances. According to the natural statistics trick, it was Canada to finish the night with 12 chances of high-thinner. This is more than the 10 high-Danger opportunities that it gathered against Sweden-but with fewer goals that it had to show. – Clark


To see players

What a tournament for the lightning wing player. He had a goal and a template against Finland and then followed with two gate inlays-an empty network against Canada.

Guentzel always had the reputation of raising himself as an occasion as Stanley Cup Playoff actor at the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. He is the leader for tournament -MVP. – Wyshynski

Part of what Canada made one of the first favorites to win was the cadre’s depth of the score. This includes pure hard. Since the 2022-23 season, only five players have achieved more NHL goals than Reinhart, who is more than 40 speed for a second campaign in a row.

But after a performance against Sweden, in which he scored zero goals at three shots, he ended with zero goals with zero goals. – Clark


Big questions about the next game

How do you approach a (potentially) meaningless game?

The Americans are in the championship game next Thursday. That you know. Who their opponents are is a mystery.

Canada’s game against Finland on Monday afternoon will determine whether it has made her ticket for a reservations or whether the US game against Sweden has an import. Do the Americans play another goalkeeper in the game to give Hellebuyck a break? Does Matthew Tkachuk heal what got sick in the Canadian game to make Chris Kreider his debut of his 4 nations?

All in all, these are good problems for the tournament team USA. – Wyshynski

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Charlie McAvoy rocks Connor McDavid with an evil hit on the boards

Charlie McAvoy delivers Connor McDavid a punishing success that everyone can hear in the first period.

Can the space that Canada deprived of the United States against Finland?

Much of what the United States enabled to succeed against Canada was his ability to take time and space away, block recordings and use a physical style – with 30 hits. Could Finland use a similar strategy on Monday than is on the line in Canada for a championship game?

Finland overcame six goals in his first game in the USA by making Sweden difficult to find opportunities for any kind by taking up space. It is one of the main reasons why Sweden ended with only two -stage chances of hazard. If Finland uses a similar system on Monday, what adjustments have to make Canada to avoid a reserveser to the USA-and avoid an earlier exit? – Clark

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