Sights, sounds from 2nd game of best-on-best international tournament from Montreal
© Vitor Munhoz/4NFO/World Cup of Hockey via Getty Images
MONTREAL — Welcome to 4 Nations Face-Off, the first international best-on-best tournament with NHL players since the World Cup of Hockey 2016. After a thrilling win by Canada over Sweden on Wednesday, the United States and Finland go at it on Thursday at Bell Centre in Montreal. NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price is high atop the arena to provide the sights, sounds and highlights of this historic event. Follow along all game and all tournament.
9:02 p.m. ET
An entertaining first period is in the books here and it’s 1-1 between the U.S. and Finland.
There were big questions on how Finland, with a depleted corp of defensemen, could hold off the U.S. attack, but so far, so good.
This is a much more physical game than last night, with each team delivering some big hits. The Finns are doing a great job of keeping the U.S. from getting Grade A scoring chances.
So to recap, it’s Jokiharju for Finland and Brady Tkachuk for the U.S.
The U.S. is outshooting Finland 12-7.
It’s hot dog time. Will the standings change, with Roarke trailing Gulitti by one after four periods of hockey.
Will any of us even get there with a stampede of media members heading for the hot dog line.
8:52 p.m. ET
About a minute into the power play Laine unleashed a rocket from Connor Hellebuyck’s right. It appeared the U.S. goalie may have gotten just a piece of it to keep it from going in.
All eyes are suddenly on Hellebuyck after giving up a somewhat questionable goal to Jokiharju. I see the social media trolls are already on him.
Down the other end of the ice, Saros stops Noah Hanifin on a breakaway. He came out of the penalty box and took a pass from J.T. Miller, but Saros got the pad out.
Now we have dueling “U.S.A” and “Let’s Go Finland” chants going on. There was an expectation that vibes tonight would be a little toned down after the Canada opener last night, but no, the fans are into this game, and why not? We have played 15 minutes of hockey and the U.S. has nine shots on goal and Finland eight.
This is shaping up to be a classic.
8:46 p.m. ET
The U.S. comes right back to tie the game, the puck barely making it over the goal line after Brady Tkachuk wedges it through Juuse Saros’ pads.
Huge goal for the U.S. after it fell behind 1-0. Clearly, Matthew Tkachuk gets the attention because he won the Stanley Cup last season with Florida, but Brady is just as good and just as nasty.
He could be a big X factor in this series for the U.S.
Now Finland is going to the power play after Noah Hanifin trips Patrik Laine in the corner.
Big moment early here.
8:40 p.m. ET
We have our first goal of the game and it’s Finland that cashes in.
Defenseman Henri Jokiharju beats Connor Hellebuyck from a sharp angle at 7:31.
Jokiharju wasn’t originally on this team; he was added as a injury replacement, but the Buffalo Sabres defenseman makes his present felt.
The goal is followed by a “Let’s Go Finland” chant throughout the Bell Centre.
Unlike Canada, the U.S. power play didn’t fare so well on its first attempt, it actually didn’t get a good scoring chance, which is sort of stunning when you consider the first unit consisted of Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Jake Guentzel, Matthew Tkachuk and Adam Fox.
But I think that is how Finland has to play this game. Keep it tight and close. They are without three of their top defensemen, but they have kept the U.S. from any major scoring chances so far.
The best chance came when Brock Nelson hit the crossbar.
8:27 p.m. ET
The Americans have come out with a snarl.
First, forwad Matthew Tkachuk laid a heavy hit in the corner on Finnish defenseman Olli Maatta, and a few minutes later, J.T. Miller mixed it up with Henri Jokiharju in the front of the net.
We’ve had our first Metallica song of the night, so the DJ, who leaned heavily on ABBA last night, is going with an American theme so far. And now we have Foo Fighters.
Oh, in case you’re wondering, yes, Auston Matthews is being booed each time he touches the puck.
And now the U.S. is going to the power play, with Finland’s Joel Armia going off for cross-checking.
8:16 p.m. ET
There is no question who the crowd is rooting for tonight.
The United States players were booed mightily when they took the ice, while Finland recieved huge cheers.
My goodness this place is going to be nuts on Saturday when the U.S. plays Canada, but I digress.
I really think the booing is good for the U.S. This team has a chip on its shoulder, and you have guys like Matthew and Brady Tkachuk who love playing the villian.
This should be a blast tonight as well.
As for the starters tonight, for the U.S. it’s Jack Hughes, Auston Matthews and Jake Guentzel at forward, Charlie McAvoy and Zach Werenski at defense and Connor Hellebuyck in goal.
For Finland, it’s Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanten and Artturi Lehkonen at forward Niko Mikkola and Esa Lindell on defense and Juuse Saros in goal.
Here we go.
8:07 p.m. ET
We are about 10 minutes from the start of the game, and before we dive fully into U.S.-Finland, one more look back at the Canada-Sweden game.
While it was certainly an electric finish with Canada winning in OT, becuase of the format and points system in the 4 Nations, Canada left a point on the table by allowing Sweden to force OT.
In case you don’t know, a win in regulation in 3 points, a loss in regulation is 0 points, an OT/shootout win is 2 points and an OT/shootout loss is 1 point.
So instead of Canada having a 3-point cushion on Sweden, it’s a one-point cushion. Remember, each team plays each other once and then the top two teams play in the championship game on Thursday in Boston.
We’ll see if the extra point comes back to haunt Canada or help Sweden advance.
7:50 p.m.
Auston Matthews continues to hear the boos. After Montreal Canadiens and Finland forward Patrik Laine got huge cheers when his image was shown on the big screen, Matthews heard many cat calls.
It’s funny, just 24 hours ago his Toronto Maple Leafs teammate Mitch Marner was the toast of the town after scoring in OT against Sweden.
Speaking of booing, I wanted to do that when the DJ played some awful remix version of the Kiss song “I Was Made For Loving You.” Thank goodness NHL.com Managing Day Editor Brian Compton — a proud member of the Kiss Army — was not here to hear that.
I’ll keep tabs on the DJ tonight. He played an awful lot of ABBA last night. I love ABBA and honestly think they should be played on a continuous loop in every sports venue in this find world of ours, but playing the greatest musical act in the history of Sweden while Canada is playing Sweden is another thing.
7:43 p.m
The players are on the ice and warmups have begun for the second game of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It appears as if Kaapo Kakko (F), Juuso Valimaki (D) and Kevin Lankinen (G) will be the scratches for Finland, while Chris Kreider (F), Jake Sanderson (D) and Jeremy Swayman (G) are likley out for the U.S.
It really has to be a tough decision for these coaches to sit out players who could be All-Star players, but that is why they were picked for these jobs.
One final note on the game last night. A big talking point was how great the 10-minute OT session was, and I agree it was amazing. But the idea of bringing that to the regular season is a bit nuts, if you ask me.
Doing it possibly 3-4 times over the course of 10 days is one thing, having to do it countless times over an 82-game season that sees teams playing every other night or sometimes back-to-back nights is another thing.
7:15 p.m. ET
It’s been quite the day here in Montreal. It snowed most of the day, but it wasn’t as bad as predicted. Late last night, they said we were going to get 40 centimeters (that’s 16 inches for my friends in the U.S.), but it looks more like 20 cms, so the U.S. and Finland got in their morning skates at Bell Centre without incident.
And tonight, heading into the arena, we spotted a huge pile of snow that somehow had a projection of stars on it, I assume for the U.S.
Sweden didn’t practice, but did stay in town. Canada, meanwhile, took the 25-minute bus ride out to Brossard to practice. Our man Mike Zeisberger also battled the elements to get out there.
Of course, everyone was still buzzing about the incredible opening to the tournament on Wednesday, Canada defeating Sweden 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner (yes, that’s right, a Maple Leafs player was a hero in Montreal).
Now, the U.S. and Finland will try to deliver the encore. That could be tough for Finland, which is very thin at defense with three original players on the roster – Miro Heiskanen, Jani Hakanpaa and Rasmus Ristolainen – out because of injuries.
Still, Finland has Aleksander Barkov leading an impressive forward group that includes Sebastian Aho, Patrik Laine, Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz.
Here is Tom Guiltti’s story from Finland today.
The U.S. is led by goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who some feel could be the difference-maker in this tournament.
Read what Amalie Benjamin had to say about him here.
It’s almost time for warmups, so we will see which players will be scratches for the U.S. and Finland. Stay tuned.
One more link: Here are Dan Rosen’s three keys for the Finland-United States.
