Connor McDavid’s Team Canada faces elimination at the 4 Nations Face-Off after falling 3-1 to the United States on Saturday in Montreal.
“It was fast, tight-checking, competitive, emotional. It had everything you would want in a hockey game,” McDavid said, according to The Athletic’s Arpon Basu. “It sucks it didn’t go our way, but this thing’s far from over.”
The U.S. secured its spot in the tournament final with the regulation win. Canada’s path to the championship game now requires a regulation win against Finland on Monday. A Canadian overtime victory would mean needing Sweden to either lose in regulation or go to overtime. Any loss eliminates Canada.
“It’s the greatest rivalry in hockey, and they got us tonight,” Sam Bennett said, according to NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger. “I mean, we’re not going to look ahead to a (rematch), but obviously, we want them again.”
The desire for a rematch extends to the American side. “This was a special one,” Dylan Larkin told Sportsnet. “It would be great to see those guys again.”
The game started with unprecedented intensity – three fights in the first nine seconds. Matthew Tkachuk, who initiated the first bout, put the victory in perspective.
“They’ve had a ton of success over the last bunch of years,” Tkachuk said, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. “This is as big of a game as it gets. I mean, this is what you dream about. A chance to knock off Canada in Canada on a Saturday night in Montreal, in that type of environment. It was incredible.”
The loss ended Canada’s 17-game winning streak in best-on-best tournaments. Their previous defeat came against the U.S. in the 2010 Olympics preliminary round – a loss they avenged in the gold-medal game on Sidney Crosby’s overtime winner.
Head coach Jon Cooper remains focused on the must-win game against Finland.
“The result is unfortunate, but I don’t think anybody can leave the building and say that that team didn’t stick up for each other or care for each other and play with passion,” Cooper said, according to Zeisberger. “And when you do have that, the ceiling is limitless, what the team can do. So, in that regard, I’m extremely proud of the guys.
“Now it’s on us here to tweak some things and find a way to beat Finland.”
