Makar's status still uncertain for Canada; Finland can't get caught in track meet
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4 Nations Face-Off, TD Garden, Boston
1 p.m. ET; TNT, MAX, truTV, SN, TVAS
BOSTON — The math is simple for Canada and Finland heading into their afternoon game at TD Garden on Monday.
Win in regulation = advance to the final to face the United States on Thursday.
Lose in regulation = eliminated from the tournament.
Should the game go to overtime, it opens the door for Sweden to advance to the final by defeating the United States in the night game at TD Garden (8 p.m. ET; TNT, MAX, truTV, SN, TVAS).
Finland gained two standings points by defeating Sweden 4-3 in overtime on Saturday to get the opportunity to advance to the final after losing 6-1 to the United States on Thursday.
Canada gained two standings points also by defeating Sweden 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday. It lost to the U.S. 3-1 on Saturday.
“We took Sweden to overtime, (Finland) took Sweden to overtime,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said. “They were in the U.S. game. Let’s be honest, they had a two-minute blowup and all of a sudden a 2-1 game turns into a 5-1 game. They weren’t outplayed measurably by the U.S. and I think their coach would say the same thing. They’ve got NHL stars just like every team in this tournament does. The difference probably between Canada and Finland is we have massive expectations in front of us, but expectations don’t win hockey games. You have to go out there and perform and I think our team has performed extremely well.”
Finland’s lineup appears set after the win against Sweden. Kevin Lankinen will start in goal, as he did against the Swedes. He made 21 saves in the win. Kaapo Kakko is expected to play a second straight game after he was a healthy scratch against the U.S.
“That game gives us more confidence,” Finland coach Antti Pennanen said of the win against Sweden. “I believe that we are ready to play against Team Canada.”
Canada’s lineup is more of a work-in-progress because of Cale Makar‘s status.
The defenseman missed the game against the United States because of an illness. He skated Sunday and a decision on his status will be made prior to the game Monday.
Cooper also did not name a starting goalie.
Jordan Binnington has started both of Canada’s games in the tournament, allowing five goals on 48 shots (.896 save percentage, 2.41 goals-against average), including two on 22 against the U.S.
Binnington didn’t skate Sunday; Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault were on the ice.
“It’s kind of like a Game 7,” Canada forward Connor McDavid said. “A lot of guys in this room have been in that situation before. Got to get a win.”
NHL.com writers preview Canada vs. Finland, USA vs. Sweden on Saturday
1. Makar’s status
This is huge for Canada.
Makar, the Colorado Avalanche defenseman, is arguably the best blueliner in the NHL, among the favorites for the Norris Trophy as the League’s best defenseman this season.
He changes Canada’s game if he’s able to play, especially the power play.
“Every new day he’s a little bit better and trending in the right direction,” Cooper said. “I can’t speak for Cale. We speak regularly. We’re on top of everything and I know if he can go he’s going to go.”
Makar said making the decision to sit out the game against the U.S. on Saturday was difficult, but he felt it was in the best interest of himself, the team, and what’s to come for him and the Avalanche the rest of this season.
The same reasons will dictate the decision on if he’s in or out Monday.
“It’s a really hard decision, but it’s definitely one that obviously everybody’s looking forward to for the entire season,” Makar said. “That was a hard one, but I’ve got to make sure I get it right and hopefully feel better for (Monday).”
2. Finns can’t get caught in a track meet
Pennanen brought this up multiple times in his press conference Sunday. Some of the Finnish players also touched on the subject.
Canada is fast. Finland can’t try to match Canada’s speed. Finland has to find a way to dictate the pace of the game when it can and for however long it can, knowing full well it won’t be able to do that for 60 minutes.
“I think it’s going to be pretty similar to the game we played against USA,” Pennanen said. “The main thing is of course we have to follow our system and stick with it, but still some moments we have to slow them a little bit. Tight units. Strong between the dots. Good defense overall.”
Defenseman Henri Jokiharju said Finland can steal a page out of the U.S. playbook against Canada by being smart with dump-ins, aggressive on the forecheck, with good stick-on-puck defending and limiting odd-man rushes against.
The U.S. did all those things well against Canada, especially in the third period, which is why it was able to protect a 2-1 lead and build it to 3-1 with an empty-net goal.
“You’ve got to have all the time your F3 high and just make sure we don’t give them any 3-on-2s, 4-on-2s,” Jokiharju said. “That’s really a key for the game. Just stick together and work really, really hard.”
3. Start strong, and keep pushing
Canada has started strong in both of its games; opening first period leads of 2-0 lead against Sweden and 1-0 against the United States.
Sweden eventually found its legs, got it to 2-1 and came back from 3-1 down to force overtime.
The U.S. didn’t let Canada build any momentum with Jake Guentzel scoring 2:23 after McDavid gave the Canadians a 1-0 lead.
Canada needs another strong start against Finland to try to take away some of the confidence the Finns have coming into the game. But another strong start won’t matter if the Canadians can’t maintain it.
“Our team cares,” Cooper said. “When you have a team that cares I’m not going to be worried about our work ethic or anything like that. At the end of the game we just have to find a way to have one more than them.”
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Canada projected lineup
Sidney Crosby — Connor McDavid — Mark Stone
Sam Reinhart — Nathan MacKinnon — Mitch Marner
Brad Marchand — Sam Bennett — Seth Jarvis
Brandon Hagel — Anthony Cirelli — Brayden Point
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Josh Morrissey — Colton Parayko
Travis Sanheim — Drew Doughty
Jordan Binnington
Adin Hill
Scratched: Travis Konecny, Thomas Harley, Sam Montembeault
Injured: Shea Theodore (upper body)
Finland projected lineup
Kaapo Kakko — Aleksander Barkov — Mikko Rantanen
Sebastian Aho — Roope Hintz — Patrik Laine
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Mikael Granlund
Artturi Lehkonen — Erik Haula — Teuvo Teravainen
Niko Mikkola — Esa Lindell
Olli Maatta — Henri Jokiharju
Urho Vaakanainen — Nikolas Matinpalo
Kevin Lankinen
Juuse Saros
Scratched: Juuso Valimaki, Joel Armia, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Injured: None
Status report
If Makar can’t play, Harley will play in his second game. He was added to Canada’s roster to replace Theodore, who sustained a tournament-ending lower-body injury against Sweden on Wednesday. If Makar does play, Harley is eligible to remain in the lineup. … Kakko is expected to start the game on the top line with Barkov and Rantanen after he replaced Lehkonen in that spot in the second period of Finland’s win against Sweden on Saturday. … Konecny, a forward, could be a healthy scratch for a second straight game. He played in the tournament opener against Sweden but was replaced by Bennett in the game against the U.S.

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