The only player who should have the absolute most pressure on him to do well is Connor Hellebuyck, given his struggles when it’s not the regular season. The early signs are not promising.
Austin Matthews is going to end this tournament with something like 2 goals and 13 posts.
So glad we have the SAP Coaching Insights App to tell us how many players from each NHL team are playing in this tournament. We’d never find that information anywhere else.
We’re like halfway through the first period and I don’t know what to bet on or where to go to place a bet. Guessing ESPNBet must be down.
I predict a US victory over Canada tomorrow night. The Canadians are going to be too pumped up by the home crowd and all the political crap going on so will exhaust themselves before the third period. Just hope they will get a second chance next week in Boston where an away crowd might be better for them.
Americans are playing defensive hockey against Canada. They locked it down, and their goalie was great. I still think Canada is a fundamentally stronger team, especially with Makar. The lines are simply not working in my opinion. Mckinnon looked terrible yesterday. Mcdavid is skating around on his own, has no wing man or chemistry with the other players. They need to figure it out ASAP.
Totally agree that the US defence shut down the Canadians. However Canada needs to beat Finland in regulation time to ensure a trip to the final. That is not a given.
I hated the US strategy of picking fights to start the game. Goon hockey has no place in such a skilled tournament. However I think the strategy worked for the US so will be interested if they do the same if they meet Canada in the final.
I know the Tkachuk brothers and their dad are American but do they have a Ukrainian/Canadian ancestor from our prairies? I know they are not related to Walt.
Yeah it would be foolish of me to assume that Canada will easily defeat Finland. Personally I want to see some line changes. If they play the americans in the final, they will have to change strategy. They have to forecheck more, get bodies in front of the goalie, and try to get some greasy goals. Americans were quite effective at stopping Mcdavid and Mckinnon on their neutral zone rushes.
McDavid blowing past everyone for the first goal was the worst thing he could have done. It sent a message to the U.S. to slow his ass down and make sure he was marked, and then they did that with everyone else for good measure - which, if you’re playing Canada, that’s what you need to do.
Binnington didn’t lose the game last night, but I’m sure he’ll catch enough hell for the two goals he allowed - especially that first one - to get the hook. Not sure that Adin Hill will be the silver dagger everyone expects. but like Sweden did when it hooked Gustafsson after the 1st period, you don’t play around with the goaltending if you think there’s a problem and you really don’t do it with the tournament on the line.
Does Makar in the lineup change things for Canada last night? Perhaps, he definitely brings extra speed, but I suspect the U.S. would have found a way to close him down too. Probably a bigger deal that Canada is down Pietrangelo and Theodore, so at this point they’re starting to scrape depth. I’ll be surprised if M. Tkachuk plays, given the U.S. has nothing to play for.
Tomorrow will be fun. Only crappy part is we’re all working during the 1st game, unless you’re marking off work for 3 hours for it.
It was a very relaxing game for me until the Finns scored those three late goals. Good for the Finns for not giving up but Canada needs at least 60 good minutes of hockey to beat the USA.
Not that surprised that Sweden - who is the only country to not lose in regulation in the tournament, but still won’t advance to the final because of the head-to-head loss to Canada - won last night. After a bit of early excitement, the game settled down into “just get through it, wait for Thursday night” from the U.S.
Not totally unexpected, maybe - Brady Tkachuk going into the post and coming up hurt, taking a couple brief shifts and then sitting the rest of the game took some steam out of the rest of the bench - but since the game was a dead rubber there really wasn’t any reason for the U.S. to play hard. Sweden could go more all-out just for pride, but I think even for them after it was 2-1 they went into “let’s play the game, get through it unscathed, get back to the NHL season.”
I didn’t think this tournament would suddenly become a game of attrition, but that’s where we are now.
I do prefer this “3-point-must” standings format. Current NHL version makes it favorable for both teams in inter-conference games to settle for a tie, then play for the bonus point in OT and SO.
Maybe the NHL should take another look at 3-2-1 points system during the regular season?
Expecting a low scoring, tight-checking Final. Would not be surprised to see a repeat of 2010 Vancouver Olympics OT game (with hopefully the same result ).
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