MONTREAL — Brady and Matthew Tkachuk each scored twice, and the brothers had a handful of big hits to help the United States beat Finland 6-1 on Thursday night in each team’s opening game at the 4 Nations Face-Off, a physical showdown played with edge throughout.
Everyone was finishing checks, including Jack Eichel dumping Finnish captain Aleksander Barkov into the U.S. bench. Brady Tkachuk bowled over 6-foot-6 Niko Mikkola with one of his game-high eight hits, and Matthew Tkachuk gave Patrik Laine an earful before a faceoff as the Americans began to take over.
The scoreboard made it look like more of a rout than it was for the first two periods, when quality chances were at a premium and space on the ice was hard to find. Matt Boldy scored the go-ahead goal on a textbook deflection of Minnesota Wild teammate Brock Faber’s shot late in the second, then the floodgates opened early in the third.
Many fans hadn’t even returned to their seats from intermission when Matthew Tkachuk sailed a long shot in past Juuse Saros 15 seconds into the period. Saros then gave up another softie to Jake Guentzel, and Brady Tkachuk beat the struggling Nashville Predators goaltender again to make it three U.S. goals in less than three minutes.
That onslaught quieted the very pro-Finland crowd full of Canadians eager to root against their country’s biggest hockey rival. Some even booed the U.S. anthem before the game, and there was plenty more where that came from for Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews several times he touched the puck.
Matthew Tkachuk added another for good measure on the power play with 8:47 left, and that was enough for the “U-S-A! U-S-A!” chants to fill the bowl at Bell Centre. In the waning minutes, a few U.S. fans proclaimed, “We want Canada!”
Finland only gave fans one real opportunity to cheer, when late-added defenseman Henri Jokiharju beat Connor Hellebuyck clean on a shot 7:31 in to make it 1-0. Hellebuyck stopped the next 18 shots he faced to finish with 20 saves.
The same could not be said for Saros, who allowed six goals on 32 shots and could be replaced in net by Kevin Lankinen for Finland’s game against Sweden on Saturday.
The U.S. does not need to worry about making a switch there, but coach Mike Sullivan made some keen midgame adjustments that contributed to his team moving to the top of the 4 Nations standings one turn through round-robin play.
During the second period Sullivan moved Brady Tkachuk to left wing with Eichel and Matthew Tkachuk, and Kyle Connor to the second line alongside Matthews and Jack Hughes, and he flip-flopped his second and third defense pairs to put Noah Hanifin with Adam Fox, and Jaccob Slavin with Brock Faber.
Matthew Tkachuk, fresh off winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last season, finished with three points thanks to an assist on Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk’s second goal of the night. Defenseman Zach Werenski also had a three-assist game.
Up next
Rivalry day at the 4 Nations starts Saturday with Sweden against Finland at noon CST, followed by the U.S. and Canada at 7 p.m.
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