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Greg Wyshynski
BOSTON — The hockey world is still buzzing about Saturday night’s fight-filled Team USA vs. Canada game and the possibility of a rematch in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game.
Finland would like nothing more than to prevent that from happening by eliminating Canada on Monday afternoon in Boston.
“We respect Team Canada a lot and their hockey history. So it’s going to be a big thing for us if we can win against that team,” said Finland coach Antti Pennanen.
While the U.S. has clinched a berth in Thursday’s championship game, the tournament’s other three teams still have a path to join them. If either Canada or Finland earn a regulation win in Monday’s 1 p.m. ET game at TD Garden, it will advance to the final. If either Canada or Finland win in overtime or a shootout, Sweden could make the final with a regulation win over the U.S. on Monday night (8 ET).
If Finland beats Canada in any manner, the tournament favorite is eliminated from the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Pennanen said he anticipates having the Boston fans’ support as Finland plays Team USA’s archrival. “It’s turned around for us now here in Boston. I hope we have the home crowd behind us,” he said.
The Finnish players are well aware of the anticipation for a rematch after Team USA’s thrilling 3-1 victory over Canada on Saturday night in Montreal, which featured three fights in the first nine seconds of the game. Forward Erik Haula was on a team bus with his family when that game started.
“I had my 1-year-old on my lap and gave the phone to my 4-year-old, asking if he wanted to watch the game. And then there were three fights in nine seconds and I’m like, ‘Hey buddy, what’s going on over here?'” he recalled with a laugh.
Playing the spoiler is a familiar position for Finland, perennially an underdog in international tournaments.
“They always seem to be the team that probably never gets the respect they deserve until they’re in the final and then you’re like, ‘Whoa, how did Finland get here?'” said Canada coach Jon Cooper, who noted that his team’s rematch with the Americans is anything but guaranteed. “Finland has NHL stars just like everybody in this tournament does. The difference between Canada and Finland is that we have massive expectations in front of us. But expectations don’t win hockey games. You have to go out there and perform, and I think our team has performed extremely well.”
Spoiling USA vs. Canada II would fit that Finnish tradition. But Haula said that’s not on his teammate’s minds heading into Monday.
“We don’t think about it like that. It’s just a great opportunity for us to play against them. It’s a great challenge for us and we’re going to try to meet it head on and play our best game of tournament,” he said. “It’s where all our focus is.”
Finland was thumped by the Americans 6-1 in their tournament opener but defeated archrival Sweden 4-3 in overtime on Saturday to avoid elimination. The Finns will run it back with Vancouver Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen against Canada, after he stopped 21 of 24 shots against Sweden. Cooper wouldn’t say whether Canada would start St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington for a third straight game or switch to backup goalie Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Pennanen said Finland proved in the first two periods of its game against the U.S. that it can compete with deep, talented teams like Canada.
“I think it’s going to be pretty much the same kind of game that we played against USA. We need to follow our system and stick to it. We need to slow them down a little bit,” he said.
Canada is waiting to see whether star defenseman Cale Makar is back in its lineup. He missed the loss to the U.S. because of illness and said Monday that he’ll make the call on his status for the Finland game on Monday morning. The Colorado Avalanche star said it was an agonizing call not to play against the Americans.
“I’ve got to do what’s unfortunately best for myself and make sure that I’m ready to go for the rest of the season. It’s a really hard decision,” said Makar.
