4 Nations Face-Off Recap: Montréal
Looking at the three days of 4 Nations Face-Off hockey played in Montréal.
The first half of the 4 Nations Face-Off has officially wrapped up, with all four teams now heading to Boston to wrap up the tournament. Currently, Team USA has punched their ticket to the championship game on Thursday night, with Canada, Finland, and Sweden all tied in the standings with two points respectively. Let’s take a look at how the tournament has shaken out so far.
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Wednesday, February 12 marked the first day of the tournament, with Team Canada and Team Sweden getting Montréal hyped with a 4–3 overtime thriller. Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring with a power play rocket fed to him by Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, while Jonas Brodin kick-started Sweden’s comeback to take it to overtime. Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson took part in this game, but ultimately didn’t make it on the scoresheet. Playing alongside Adrian Kempe of the L.A. Kings and Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators, he finished the game with 16:58 minutes played in the game.
On February 13, Team USA showed off their skills by clawing down Team Finland in a 6–1 victory. This USA team looked dominant despite missing the best defenseman named to their roster in Quinn Hughes. Brady and Matthew Tkachuk made headlines with their two-goal performances each. Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen did not play in this game, as Juuse Saros got the start. However, after he let four goals in during the third period, Finland decided to switch to Lankinen for their next game.
Saturday, February 15 was a big day for the tournament, as each game featured a big national rivalry — Sweden vs. Finland and Canada vs. USA. In a double-Canuck matchup in the early slot, Finland took a 4–3 overtime win off an impressive overtime performance by Lankinen. Sweden’s dominance was noticeable early on, but despite their early influx of shots, they were unable to lock things down in overtime.
The night game started off with a bang, as Canada and USA dropped the gloves with each other three times in the first nine seconds of the first period. Brandon Hagel and Sam Bennett fought Matthew and Brady Tkachuk respectively, while Colton Parakyo squared off with former Canuck J.T. Miller. While Canada opened the scoring with a beautiful goal from Connor McDavid, Team USA eventually scored two unanswered to win the game and secure their place in the championship game.
Three more games are to be played in Boston — Canada vs. Finland at 10:00 am PT, and USA vs. Sweden at 5:00 pm PT. Both of these matches will take place tomorrow. The championship game will be on Thursday at 5:00 pm PT.
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