BOSTON — Behind all the pomp, pugnacity, skill and scoring that’s placed Team USA in the deciding game of the 4 Nations Face-Off has been Connor Hellebuyck standing as tall as his six-foot-four frame has allowed him to.
The goaltender has been sensational through two starts, blocking 45 of 47 shots he’s faced for a tournament-leading .957 save percentage.
“Blocking” is the optimal word, however, because Hellebuyck certainly hasn’t been absorbing all the shots that have hit them since making his first start against Finland last Wednesday. Far from it, in fact.
Checking with Sportlogiq, the 31-year-old allowed 15 rebounds on the 21 shots the Finns landed in USA’s opening game, and he then allowed another 18 on 26 shots Canada had in USA’s 3-1 win last Saturday.
Sam Bennett saw them, but the net (and chaos) driver said the Canadians didn’t do enough to get to them.
“That’s how we’re going to generate more chances,” Bennett said. “We definitely let (Hellebuyck) off the hook and made it too easy for him the last time we played him, so I think that’s going to be a key for us on Thursday.”
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Canada vs. USA in 4 Nations Face-Off final on Sportsnet
Fierce rivals Canada and the U.S. collide in Boston on Thursday for the 4 Nations Face-Off final. Watch the game on Sportsnet, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.
Another will be Canada’s ability to hit the second wave of offence on the rush and then stack the middle of the offensive zone to create traffic for their point-men to shoot through.
Josh Morrissey, who’s one of those point men, knows how effective that strategy can be. Especially against Hellebuyck.
Morrissey has played in front of Hellebuyck for his whole career with the Winnipeg Jets, and he was standing right in front of him for many of the 24 goals the Colorado Avalanche got by him using those exact tactics in their five-game playoff series last spring.
Across from Morrissey then was Cale Makar, who was doing most of the shooting to help Colorado advance.
Makar wasn’t there for Canada last Saturday against USA. But after returning from illness against Finland, Morrissey believes Makar can make a huge difference in Thursday’s championship game in the same way he did against the Jets in the playoffs.
“I was talking about it after the (Finland) game last night: His ability to walk the line and get shots through is probably the best in the NHL,” said Morrissey. “His wrist shot, snap shot, however you want to call it, is so lethal. We see it a lot obviously when we play him and see it a lot in the summer skating with him. It’s definitely a special talent, and I think all the other D-men try to learn from him on that. But he’s lethal with that. Every time he gets up there five-on-five or on the power play, he’s a real threat and he can score from distance, which is hard to do in the NHL.”
Makar has yet to score for Canada in this tournament, but everything Morrissey said about him is reflected in him having five more goals (22) than any other defenceman in the league this season. And only Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski has landed more shots (203) than Makar’s 175 on net.
Meanwhile, for Team USA, Werenski, who’s tied with Canada’s Sidney Crosby for the tournament lead in points (five), is a big part of the reason the Canadians and Finns had so much trouble getting to those rebounds Hellebuyck gave out last week.
He’ll be without partner Charlie McAvoy, who was lauded by replacement Jake Sanderson as the main reason USA made the final before losing to Team Sweden in a meaningless game Monday. But even with McAvoy nursing an infection from an upper-body injury, the Americans have a group that has swept away the rebounds and kept Hellebuyck’s sightlines clear to great effect.
Noah Hanifin said those are just two of several things USA’s defence has done well.
As for what they did best, specifically against Canada, Hanifin said, “I think for us, it was mostly just the rushes against.”
“They have a lot of speed and skill that comes through the middle of the ice,” Hanifin expanded. “You saw it on (Connor) McDavid’s goal there — how dangerous they can be if let up for one second. I thought we did a good job limiting that and trying to frustrate them, staying on top of them and checking well, and it’s something we’ll have to do again because you know they’re going to bring it.”
Canada’s must do exactly that.
So long as Hellebuyck is blocking most the pucks instead of absorbing them, their best chance of winning the tournament depends on it.
Brandon Hagel for flag, not cameras
Brandon Hagel said there was no way he was backing down from a fight with Matthew Tkachuk to open Saturday’s mayhem between Canada and USA, and just like he punched then, he had the retort of the tournament on Tuesday.
When asked if Team Canada should initiate the physicality against this banged-up American team, Hagel said no plans were being orchestrated like the ones J.T. Miller and the Tkachuk brothers cooked up ahead of last Saturday’s game.
“I think we’re out there playing for the flag, not the cameras,” Hagel said. “That’s a part of Canada that we have in there. We don’t need to initiate anything. We don’t have any group chats going on. We’re going out there playing our game and then giving it everything and doing it for our country. We don’t need to initiate everything. We’re just going to play as hard as we can and do it for the flag on the chest.”
It should be noted he leads Canadian forwards with 11 hits through three games, while the Tkachuks and Miller, who planned those game-opening fights against Canada Saturday, have combined for 37 of the 86 hits the Americans have thrown in the tournament.
Bennett, who has eight hits through the two games he played, will be key for Canada in that department.
The Florida Panthers superpest also relishes the opportunity to be the target of boos from the Boston faithful at the arena on Thursday.
“I’ve definitely been the villain in a lot of buildings, and definitely in this building before, so I enjoy that role,” he said. “But I’m sure the atmosphere is going to be just as intense as it was [in Montreal]and I can’t wait for Thursday.”
