Teeing up the Canada-USA 4 Nations Face-Off clash

Team Canada against Team United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off is set for 8 pm Saturday night from the Bell Centre.

Let's all take a second to soak in that lead-up there, and let how special this game is going to be hit you. There are rivalries between many countries throughout many sports, and Canada vs. USA is the epitome of hockey. This is going to be an instant classic on the Bell Centre ice, in front of what is the best crowd in the entire league.

Canada survived a scare against Team Sweden, perhaps an amalgamation of a few things - the feeling it out stage, and maybe underestimating the opponent. Sweden and Canada needed overtime to decide the opener of the tournament. The Swedes gave Canada a good fight, and they knew they would need to be better against the Americans.

USA on the other hand had their way with Finland in the second game of the 4 Nation's Face-Off, winning easily 6-1. After a minor adjustment putting Brady and Matthew Tkachuk together on a line with Jack Eichel, USA head coach Mike Sullivan created a monster. The top trio for the Americans combined for 7 points against the Finns.

If Canada is going to win, they will have to play their game, which is what they always do. But they will have to respect the Americans and be prepared for them. In the mind of Canadian head coach Jon Cooper, that means making a line that is tailor-made to play against the Tkachuk's. Brad Marchand and Seth Jarvis centred by Matthew's Stanley Cup-winning teammate Sam Bennett, will be tasked with handling the Tkachuk brothers.

Puck drop is set for somewhere hopefully close to 8 p.m.

Laine and Finland clash with Sweden

Patrik Laine and the Finns face their bitter rivals the Swedes in the early game at the Bell Centre on Saturday. With a 1 pm start, Finland and Sweden set the stage for what will become one of the greatest games in international hockey history. But before the red and white clashes with the stars and stripes, Finland and Sweden have some business to tend to.

We can skip all the fodder, and jump to what you all came here for, to hear about Laine's performance.

Well, the first goal of the game isn't what Laine or Armia want to hear, the goal horn behind Juuse Saros was the first to go off. Sweden drew first blood with an unassisted tally scored by New York Ranger Mika Zibanejad.

But Finland woke up after that Swedish reality check and answered back with the next two goals of the game. Both goals were assisted by Laine, who seems to be leaning on his playmaking through just under two periods of play.

The first goal was scored by Florida Panther Anton Lundell, with Eetu Luotsarinen also earning an assist on the tally.

Laine's second assist, on Mikko Rantanen's goal on the Finnish power play, was the prettiest of his two assists. Rantanen caught a whippy feed from Laine across the ice, and while he didn't get everything on the shot, he beat Swedish goaltender Filip Gustavsson. I have to think that if they can find some chemistry on the Finnish power play, they will not be fun to play against.

Just a little after the first five minutes of the second period, Sweden drew even on a tally by Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin. Sweden also leads Finland with 13 shots to Finland's nine.

Sweden's 14th shot of the game was another goal from the blueline, that has factored for two of Sweden's three goals. Karlsson has scored plenty of goals against the Habs on this ice, but never got a cheer like the one today.

Laine's two assists seem to have lit a fire under him, because he is all over the ice, giving Sweden headaches with his defending. His off-puck game has been brilliant, and he appears deadset on getting back to his old self. Laine is showing that he isn't a one-dimensional player, and with some consistency he should provide Montreal a nice boost when he returns.

Not too nice, because the Habs need a high pick, but enough to give him confidence heading into the 2025-26 season.

Just ahead of the final three minutes of the second, Aleksander Barkov connected on a great scoring play with Kaapo Kakko and Olli Maata. Barkov's tally drew the Finns even with Sweden and was his first goal of the 4 Nations Face-Off. Laine did not factor in on the Finns' third goal.

The teams are deadlocked at 3-3 with a full period left to play.

After a back-and-forth six minutes of play in the final period, Finland captain Alex Barkov took a hooking penalty against Elias Pettersson. This was a rather uncharacteristic penalty for Barkov, who competes for the Frank J. Selke and Lady Byng trophy annually. The captain is going to need a big penalty kill from his team, especially in a short tournament where every win is crucial.

Barkov has something up his sleeve though, stepping out of the penalty box, after a perfect kill from his squad, and then catching a pass on his backhand spanning the whole neutral zone. Gustavsson turned aside Barkov's backhand attempt, which could have ignited the crowd.

Laine can become this ridiculous next-level threat as a sniper late in games, especially in overtime. I think there are a fair amount of people who frequent the Bell Centre for Canadiens games who would agree with me. I feel like Barkov, Rantanen or Laine are going to be the reason if the Finns win.

With Finland pushing Sweden to overtime, Sweden can get a maximum two points with a win outside of regulation. Canada won their opener in overtime, giving them only two points, and USA won their game 6-1, giving them three points. If Canada beats USA in regulation, they will lead the pack with five points after two games, and each club plays a total of three games in the round robin.

On Finland's 21st shot of the afternoon, Mikael Granlund caught Linus Ullmark with a nasty five-hole wrist shot. His goal was unassisted.

The three stars of the game were - Erik Karlsson (3rd star), Patrik Laine (2nd star) and the 4 Nations Face-Off Player of the game - Mikael Grandlund.