Patrik Laine, Finland open 4 Nations Face-Off with clash against USA

Patrik Laine and the Finnish squad opened their 4 Nations Face-Off with a battle against the Americans on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.

Canada and Sweden opened the tournament on Wednesday night with a masterpiece, and I don't think Finland and the USA will be overshadowed. The energy in the building, the excitement and intensity on the ice, this is why best-on-best hockey is necessary. Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid have never played together, and we have to go back to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, for the last time that NHL players represented their countries on the international stage.

It doesn't get any better than this, it may be difficult to get back to watching NHL teams that aren't loaded top to bottom like the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters. In my opinion, once Laine gets to play with guys like Alex Barkov and Sebastian Aho, he may consider going to Carolina or Florida. This tournament has been long-awaited and the players are ready to get it started.

Canada and Sweden gave the world an instant classic, and the Americans and Finns are set to leave it all on the ice in doing the same thing. While Habs fans will have a particular focus on Laine and Joel Armia, Finland has a big challenge on their hands. Without Miro Heiskanen and Rasmus Ristolainen's services, the Finnish blueline is going to need to have a big night against the American's explosive offence.

Onto the game:

The first period, as one would expect, was a great example of a feeling-it-out process; aside from practice many of these players have never lined up together. However, Laine drew a penalty at 8:16 of the first period, against Team USA defenseman Noah Hanifin. It didn't register as a shot according to NHL.com, but Laine had a scoring chance that made the Bell Centre collectively say Oh!

Laine expected to score on that shot, and the collective chip on the Finns' shoulders has got him extra fired up. Finland is often overlooked, and the underdog heading into most matchups. While the club isn't new to dealing with this, it still brings the best out of Laine, Armia and their teammates.

With a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes, the Finns who were outshot, were not outscored.

The second period was more of the same, Team USA made them bend a little, but they didn't break. Finland trails the USA in shots 13-8 as of the 14-minute mark of the middle frame. The Canadiens' two Finnish forwards have been relatively quiet to this point.

Finland defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo took a penalty for boarding against Jake Guentzel at the 07:19 mark of the period. Habs fans know too well that Armia's time to shine is during the penalty kill, so it could be good for him. No. 40 formed a forward duo with Erik Haula, of the New Jersey Devils.

Laine has the Finn's best scoring chance of the period, which I seemed to have missed. The 6'5" sniper somehow snuck into the right slot and fired a nice feed from Sebastian Aho. Oh, what could have been if the offer sheet had been successful?

Matt Boldy scored the lone goal of the middle frame, pulling the American's ahead of Finland 2-1. Assists went to Brock Faber and Kyle Connor.

Unfortunately for the squad captained by Aleksander Barkov, the third period was a dud of a start. Team USA scored two goals in quick succession, just 11 seconds apart. Matthew Tkachuk scored, in a game that has been dominated by the Tkachuk brothers, after an adjustment from head coach Mike Sullivan.

Jack Eichel is centring the two high-character Tkachuk brothers. Anyway, back to the scoring play. Jake Guentzel scored USA's fourth goal of the night.

Then at the 03:00 mark of the third, Matthew, Eichel and Brady connected, showing off some impressive chemistry. Eichel drew the primary assist on the tally. But the biggest story has been the Tkachuk's, who each have two points, with Pops and the family watching in the crowd.

I think Finland is going to do their darndest to compete, but they will rely heavily on two particular defenders. Niko Mikkola and Esa Lindell, are the Finn's two best defender's and almost 48 minutes into the game, they lead the team in ice time, with captain Barkov right there as well. I mentioned the injuries to Ristolainen and Heiskanen, and without them, the blueline is rather thin.

Already down 5-1, Juuse Saros can't stop the bleeding, as (Matthew) Tkachuk gets his second goal of the night. Drawing even with his younger brother, Brady and his two-goal effort. Eichel drew his second assist of the night, and Zach Werenski his third assist of the game.

Team USA and the Tkachuk's take the contest 6-1.

Ivan Demidov, SKA clash against Barys

Ivan Demidov was back in action on Thursday, with SKA St. Petersburg taking the ice for a battle against Barys.

With a 7-35 record, it's safe to say that Demidov has this game circled on his calendar, especially with his hopes of rewriting the U-21 scoring record. Demidov currently has 45 points in 53 games played, which leaves him 10 points shy of tying the record held by Carolina Hurricanes prospect Alexander Nikishin. I recently wrote about Demidov's pursuit for the record, and his potential of setting the U-22 KHL scoring record also.

Barys opened the scoring against SKA, but they answered back with two unanswered goals. The second tally in particular was a nice one, that was a result of a brilliant backhand pass from Demidov. The assist extends Demidov's current point streak to five games and gives him 46 points (27 assists, 19 goals) in 54 KHL games.

SKA ended up winning the game decisively 5-2 over Barys, and while Demidov recorded just one point, he played a strong game. Demidov finished the game with 19:17 of ice time, including 6:25 on the power play. He and SKA are off until Friday, when they face Neftekhimik at 9:30 a.m.