Four Knee-Jerk Reactions To Canada, USA 4 Nations Victories

The NHL 4 Nations Face-Off tournament kicked off on Wednesday night at Bell Centre in Montreal. It’s the first time hockey’s best will go toe to toe in an international competition in nearly a decade.

While the tournament will feature tilts between Canada, Finland, Sweden, and USA, most calendars will circle the USA-Canada matchup on Feb. 15.

Team Canada entered the 4 Nations Face-Off as the favorite to win the tournament at +110 at FanDuel. Team USA is a close second choice at +145.

Here are four knee-jerk reactions to the first two games of the tournament:

Competition Level
If there was ever a doubt about the players’ buy-in for the tournament, the first two games between Team Canada and Team Sweden and Team USA and Team Finland should be put to rest.

The first two games have been filled with scoring, goaltending and everything else in between. No matter which country you are rooting for, the best-on-best tournament has certainly lived up to the hype — and then some. It is far from a “Glorified All-Star Game.”

Team Canada Is Stacked
Canada’s stacked roster is headlined by Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, and Cale Makar, and it did not take them long to get on the board.

Just 56 seconds into the opening frame, MacKinnon put Canada up 1-0 with a power-play goal from Crosby and McDavid. Crosby had an absolutely disgusting behind-the-back, no-look pass to MacKinnon, who beat Filip Gustavsson for his first tally of the tourney.

Crosby notched three assists in Team Canada’s 4-3 overtime win over Team Sweden. The Penguins captain earned the first star of the game as chants of “CROS-BY!! CROS-BY!! CROS-BY!!” rang down from the Canadian faithful.

Even Bruins captain Brad Marchand heard cheers in the Bell Center (!). Other than Team Canada’s tilt against Team USA on Saturday night, that will probably never happen again. Especially after he trades the Canadian Maple Leaf for Boston’s Spoked-B after the tournament.

Team USA Showcases Just How Good The Tkachuks Are
As hard as it is to root for Matthew Tkachuk, it’s hard not to appreciate how much talent the Florida Panthers star truly has. Oh, and his brother Brady, yeah, he’s pretty good too.

The Tkachuks scored four of Team USA’s six goals in the Americans’ 6-1 drubbing of Team Finland in the tournament’s second game on Thursday night. The Tkachucks combined for five points in the win.

Bruins fans were no doubt having mixed emotions cheering for the Tkachuks, especially Matthew, but seeing the brothers come to the defense of Charlie McAvoy after he was pushed into Juuse Saros’ goalpost surely kept the animosity at bay — for now.

Along with the formidable brothers, Zach Werenski, Jack Eichel, Matt Boldy and Jake Guentzel all registered multiple points in the game.

USA Made Massive Statement Before Canada Matchup
Team Canada may be the favorite to win the tournament, but Team USA certainly made a statement with their first-game victory over Finland.

There may have been some bumps in the first two periods, but the absolutely dominant third makes it hard to look at a six-goal performance as anything other than a statement by this team of U.S. hockey stars in their first taste of international best-on-best competition.

Team USA sent a message, not just to Finland but to all the fans watching and the players they will be facing in their upcoming games. It’s bound to be an electric environment at the Bell Centre when Team USA and Team Canada take the ice on Saturday night.

Buckle up, hockey fans; the best has yet to come.