Bruins
“There is no greater rivalry than Canada-US.”
The rematch is formally on.
After a heavyweight bout between Group USA and Group Canada on Saturday resulted in three fights in 9 seconds — alongside with a 3-1 win for the Individuals in Montreal — each juggernaut packages will meet once more on Thursday, with worldwide bragging rights on the road.
Group Canada formally punched its ticket to the 4 Nations Face-off championship sport on Monday afternoon after beating Finland, 5-3, of their closing matchup in round-robin play.
Group USA, which has defeated each Finland and Canada throughout match play, already clinched its spot within the title sport after Saturday’s win.
The U.S. and Canada will meet in one of the anticipated hockey video games in latest reminiscence on Thursday evening at TD Backyard. Puck drop is about for 8 p.m.
That matchup will put Bruins captain Brad Marchand in a novel spot, as he and the remainder of Group Canada might be taking part in in a hostile atmosphere on Causeway Road.
“No, I haven’t considered it,” Marchand mentioned postgame about the potential of being booed on Thursday. “On the finish of the day, I’ve been booed in every single place. So I’m not too fearful about it. … There’s no greater rivalry than Canada-U.S. All people wished it. So it’s going to be a particularly intense sport. One which we’re all going to be wanting ahead to.”
After struggling to generate Grade-A scoring probabilities in opposition to the Individuals over the weekend, Group Canada erased loads of doubt about their offensive firepower on Monday, scoring twice on their first 4 photographs of the sport in opposition to Finland.
Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon each scored inside the first 5 minutes of regulation, with Brayden Level constructing Canada’s result in 3-0 on the finish of the primary intermission.
MacKinnon added his second objective of the afternoon at 5:03 within the second interval to offer Canada a 4-0 benefit — a rating that held till the ultimate seven minutes of regulation.
Finland didn’t roll over down the stretch, with Esa Lindell and Mikael Granlund (twice) lighting the lamp over a stretch of 5:24 to make it a 4-3 contest with simply 1:17 left in regulation.
However Finland’s unbelievable push for extra time got here up brief, as Group Canada captain Sidney Crosby added an empty-net objective with 56 seconds left on the clock to shut out the win.
Marchand completed with zero photographs on objective over 14:13 of ice time within the win over Finland.
Whereas Group USA will tackle Sweden afterward Monday evening, the championship bout is already locked in, with the Individuals set to relaxation lineup regulars Matthew Tkachuk, Connor Hellebuyck, and Charlie McAvoy for his or her matchup in opposition to the Swedes.
Thursday’s showdown will mark the primary “best-on-best” title sport that includes the U.S. and Canada since they clashed within the gold medal sport of the 2010 Winter Olympics — with Crosby scoring the well-known “golden objective” in Vancouver to win it for Canada.
“We’d like to play them once more,” MacKinnon mentioned of battling in opposition to the Group USA. “We really feel like we may beat these guys. We plan on taking part in a bit higher Thursday.”
Saturday’s conflict between Group USA and Canada lived as much as the hype, with an intense rivalry additional elevated when Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, and J.T. Miller all dropped the gloves with Brandon Hagel, Sam Bennett, and Colton Parayko, respectively, inside the first 9 seconds of the matchup.
Past the theatrics and feelings behind these early scraps, a pitched battle between hockey greats like McDavid, Crosby, Auston Matthews, and others made for appointment viewing from diehard followers and informal viewers alike.
Saturday’s sport was the most-viewed, non-Stanley Cup Last telecast since 2019, and peaked at 5.2 million viewers.
Anticipate lots extra cheers, jeers, scraps, and bone-crunching hits on Thursday when these two hockey powers collide as soon as once more at TD Backyard.
“It’s going to be thrilling,” Marchand mentioned of the environment at TD Backyard on Thursday. “The followers right here love the sport, they usually’re going to be very excited, very energized, and convey tons of emotion. It’s going to be a number of enjoyable.”
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