4 Nations Face-off championship game preview

One game remains in the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.

As the Round Robin stage comes to an end, the United States and Canada will face off for a second time, but this time it’ll be on U.S. soil.

These two teams, or nations, faced off on Feb. 15 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC, with the United States coming away with a 3-1 victory. That game featured three fights in the first nine seconds, a true testament to how much this game and tournament meant to the players.

But to officially preview a championship, we have to dive in and take a look at both teams.

Let’s start with the United States. The club is full of talent, but three players that catch my eye are forwards Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Jack Hughes. The forward group also includes the entertaining Jake Guentzel.

In net for the U.S. club has mostly been Connor Hellebuyck, with Jake Oettinger also getting some action. The tandem has allowed just four goals in the three games played, where the United States has a 2-1 record.

Now, onto Canada. Every hockey fan’s dream is to watch Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby play together, and this tournament they’ve had the pleasure of doing so. Another player to watch is Mark Stone, who had a nice goal on a setup from Crosby in the beginning of the tournament.

Guarding the net for Canada, it’s been a one-man show by the name of Jordan Binnington. A Stanley Cup champ with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, Binnington has started all three games for Canada, allowing three goals each game but winning two of them.

Both teams have two coaches. For Canada, Rick Tocchet and Peter DeBoer run things from the bench. For the United States, it’s Mike Sullivan and John Hynes.

That sets up a very interesting storyline for the championship on Thursday, as Sullivan (the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins), will coach against one of Canada’s stars, Pittsburgh’s captain Sidney Crosby. It’ll be a matchup everyone has their eyes on.

No matter who you’re rooting for in the final game, I think we can all agree that this could be another classic, especially after the last time these two teams faced one another. Catch all the action this Thursday at 8 p.m. EST at TD Garden in Boston, Mass. Tune in to ESPN to see which of the 4 Nations Face-Off teams left will be crowned.

Adam Pietrzak is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email app5940@psu.edu.