Five weeks ago, the United States beat Finland to win a second consecutive gold medal at the world junior hockey championship.
Thursday night, those countries’ NHL players will meet in their opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Though it’s early in the tournament, every game is critical. Each team plays three games and the top teams advance to the championship game. Canada has two points and Sweden has one after Canada’s 4-3 overtime win in their opener. The USA-Finland winner would get three points if it’s a regulation win.
“These games, to me and my team, is as big as it gets for us,” USA forward Matthew Tkachuk told reporters. “We’re talking four Game 7s.”
Both teams had injuries on defense before the tournament, with the USA losing Quinn Hughes and Finland having to replace Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Ristolainen and Jani Hakanpaa.
Here’s what you need to know about the USA vs. Finland game and the full schedule at the 4 Nations Face-Off:
Defenseman Henri Jokiharju joins the rush and his shot from the right faceoff circle goes off a U.S. stick and past Connor Hellebuyck at 7:31. Jokiharju wasn’t originally named to the team but joined as an injury replacement. Finland 1, USA 0
Game still scoreless.
Finland’s Joel Armia is called for cross-checking. Finland kills it off. No shots on goal for the USA.
It will be interesting to see how the undermanned Finnish defense handles the U.S. attack.
Montreal fans boo U.S. players with division rivals Auston Matthews and Charlie McAvoy hearing it more. Finland players are cheered. Ex-Canadien Artturi Lehkonen get the loudest one. Goalie Juuse Saros is mistakenly introduced as forward Teuvo Teravainen.
For the second night in a row, fans are asked to respect the singing of the national anthems.
USA: Fs Auston Matthews, Jake Guentzel, Jack Hughes; Ds Zach Werenski, Charlie McAvoy; G Connor Hellebuyck
Finland: Fs Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen, Artturi Lehkonen; Ds Esa Lindell, Niko Mikkola; G Juuse Saros
The United States and Finland will play at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
The USA-Finland game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Sling, Fubo and ESPN+ carry ESPN and ABC games.
The USA will go with two-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck in net while Finland will use Juuse Saros.
Expected scratches are forward Kaapo Kakko, defenseman Juuso Valimaki and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
USA Hockey announced the lines for Thursday’s game. This means forward Chris Kreider, defenseman Jake Sanderson and goalie Jeremy Swayman are the scratches.
Though he’s a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, Connor Hellebuyck struggled in the playoffs the past two seasons. He had a 3.44 goals-against average and .886 save percentage in 2023. He was 5.23 and .864 last season.
TNT announced that the Canada-Sweden opener averaged 1 million viewers Wednesday night on its platforms. The network said the game was the most-watched TNT hockey telecast this season and the most-watched non-playoff hockey game of all time on its MAX streaming service. The NHL said that including Canadian viewership, the North American average was 4.1 million.
TNT’s next broadcasts are Monday, with Canada facing Finland at 1 p.m. ET and the USA playing Sweden at 8 in the final round-robin games.
Under the 4 Nations Face-Off format, teams will get three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime/shootout win, one point for an overtime/shootout loss and zero points for a loss in regulation. So if the USA or Finland wins in regulation Thursday, it would move ahead of Canada (two points) and Sweden (one point) in the standings.
Finland and the United States have met in the last four Olympics that involved NHL players. The USA routed Finland 6-0 in the round robin in 2002 on the way to a silver medal. Finland beat the USA 4-3 in the quarterfinals in 2006 on the way to silver. The USA downed Finland 6-1 in the 2010 semifinals on the way to a silver medal. In the 2014 Olympics, Finland beat the USA 5-0 in the bronze medal game. Finland also beat the USA 2-1 in the semifinals of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
The Vegas Golden Knights announced that defenseman Sean Theodore is week-to-week with the injury he suffered during Canada’s win against Sweden. Theodore was hurt when he was checked into the boards by Sweden’s Adrian Kempe. He has been ruled out of the tournament and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim will take his place.
The World Cup of Hockey will return in February 2028, and the NHL and players association envision a continuing cycle of alternating Olympics and World Cups every two years.
Details are still to be worked out, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday it would involve “at least” eight countries. Cities, including those in Europe, can start bidding in the coming months. Bettman said he didn’t foresee any melded teams, as happened in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with smaller European countries forming one team and the North American under-23 “Young Guns” forming another.
It’s up in the air whether Russian players can take part because of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The International Ice Hockey Federation recently voted to ban Russian players from its championships for another year, through the 2025-26 season.
(Times p.m. ET)
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