The Friday Four is a collection of thoughts and information on some intriguing player storylines from around the hockey world. On deck this week is:
- Canada needs Binnington to come up big in key moments
- Raymond keeps on rolling
- Tkachuk brothers already making their presence felt
- Finland should give Lankinen a shot
Jordan Binnington, Canada
There was no part of Team Canada’s roster more scrutinized than the goaltending and more specifically, Jordan Binnington.
It’s not hard to see why. Binnington simply hasn’t been very good this season, with an .897 save percentage and a ranking of 46th in goals saved above expected. The St. Louis netminder got the start in the opening game against Sweden not for his stellar play of late, but because of past greatness as he led the Blues to a Stanley Cup. That triumph was six years ago, though, and Binnington hasn’t looked like anything close to the same goaltender since.
Against the Swedes, a lot of the pre-tournament criticism seemed justified. After hardly facing a shot in the first period, the first goal Binnington gave up was a stinker, the second one he’d probably like to have back and maybe the game doesn’t even get to overtime if he’s a little sharper overall. Quite frankly, this is what you’re going to get when you take a goalie as inconsistent as Binnington.
With all that said, Binnington more than made up for it later in the game. Sidney Crosby and Mitch Marner were heroes on the winning goal, but make no mistake about it, Binnington was Canada’s best player in overtime. He made multiple incredible saves to extend the game, including this point-blank denial on Adrian Kempe.
This is exactly what Binnington, or any Canadian goaltender is going to have to do if they have the net: Have a short memory and forget about the bad goals and focus on not allowing the next one. In every matchup Canada plays, they aren’t going to have the advantage in net. You could argue Sweden, Finland and Team USA all have at least two options better than anyone Canada can turn to, so outplaying the opposition’s goaltender is unlikely to happen over 60 minutes. Instead, Binnington is going to have to be better in the most critical moments of the game and make more timely saves.
Someone like Grant Fuhr built a Hall of Fame career playing this way. Fuhr gave up his fair share of goals (although who didn’t when they played half their career in the 1980s) but he made his mark by being clutch. The Edmonton Oilers won a handful of Stanley Cups in large part because of the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, and others, but Fuhr was incredibly important to those championship teams. He would bend but rarely break. Fuhr wouldn’t allow the next goal or a back-breaking tally that would derail an Oilers victory. They trusted him to come through in the biggest moments even if he let in a shaky one earlier in the game.
Things are only going to get tougher for Binnington, especially if he gets the start Saturday against the Americans. With full respect to Sweden, the U.S. has a much more potent lineup and Binnington is going to be called upon more frequently to come up with a key save down the stretch if Canada hopes to come away with a victory.
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4 Nations Face-Off on Sportsnet
The inaugural edition of the 4 Nations Face-Off is here with the top players from Canada, Sweden, Finland and the United States going head-to-head in the highly anticipated best-on-best event. Watch all the games on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
We can continue to debate why Canada’s trio was taken over some other options that were clearly playing much better this season. The fact is, Logan Thompson isn’t walking through that door. Rightly or wrongly, this is who Canada has at its disposal. Jon Cooper described his team’s identity as “gamers and winners” and Binnington is going to have to channel that mentality much like he has many times over the course of his career, even when things aren’t going well.
Binnington won’t be able to build that relationship Fuhr had with his teammates with the rest of the Canadian roster in this short 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. There just isn’t enough time. But his performance late in the opening game and in overtime probably went a long way to helping instill confidence in the group that he can be counted on when it matters most.
Lucas Raymond, Sweden
One of the main reasons Sweden was able to push Canada to the limit in the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off was the play of Lucas Raymond.
The Detroit Red Wings forward sparked the Swedish offence with a pair of assists, including one on the game-tying goal in the third period that sent the game to overtime. His helpers weren’t exactly highlight-reel passes, but both showcased Raymond’s effort and compete level. Each goal was created from a puck battle Raymond won. On the first goal by Jonas Brodin, Raymond outmuscles Drew Doughty behind the net and creates a turnover to start the play.
Then on the second from Joel Eriksson Ek, Raymond gets the party started off the faceoff where he helps out with a winger win. It was a scrambled draw where Raymond came away with the puck as multiple players were fighting for it.
When a player with Raymond’s talents and skillset is making those type of effort plays, they’re almost impossible to stop. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised by Raymond’s abilities considering he had a breakout season in 2023-24 and he’s been one of the hottest players in the NHL over the past couple of months. Since Todd McLellan took over behind the Red Wings bench, Raymond has tallied 26 points in his past 21 games, as he and Dylan Larkin have developed into one of the more dynamic duos in hockey.
Not only has Raymond been filling up the scoresheet of late, but he’s been the catalyst for the Wings winning seven of their past eight games and propelling themselves back into a playoff spot in the crowded Eastern Conference. Raymond is now on pace for close to 90 points and gives Detroit and Sweden a dynamic scoring threat that makes everyone else around him better.
In just about every major international tournament there ends up being a player that really announces themselves to the hockey world. Someone who perhaps doesn’t get as much attention as they deserve or maybe aren’t appreciated enough for what they bring to the table. Raymond is making an early case at the 4 Nations Face-Off to be that player.
Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, USA
It certainly didn’t take long for the Tkachuk brothers to impose their will on this tournament.
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk were everywhere Thursday night, tormenting Finland at every turn both with physicality and offensive punch. The brothers combined for four goals, 13 shots and 11 hits, dominating in just about every aspect of the game.
I found it curious U.S. head coach Mike Sullivan opted to start the Tkachuks on separate lines, considering the likely chemistry they would have together. As the game wore on at a 1-1 tie, Sullivan united Brady and Matthew together with Jack Eichel to stellar results. The game quickly turned and the Americans exploded to start the third period, notching three goals in the first three minutes to break the game wide open and roll to a 6-1 win.
We’ve all seen Matthew play in several big games in the past after going to back-to-back Cup finals, but we haven’t seen Brady in too many of these situations. The Ottawa Senators forward has yet to appear in a playoff game in his seven NHL seasons and it’s clear the post-season needs him. He was a force of nature against Finland and you can only imagine what mayhem Tkachuk could cause in a seven-game series. The Sens have a legit chance of making the dance this season, so hopefully we will see more of Tkachuk playing in meaningful games this spring.
Now the U.S. will turn its attention to Canada for a massive game Saturday night in Montreal. You’d have to think Sullivan keeps the Tkachuk brothers together for that matchup given how well they played Thursday and the fact that Canada will be down a key defenceman in Shea Theodore. Will the Canadians counter by inserting Matthew’s teammate Sam Bennett into the lineup? Bennett could provide the necessary sandpaper to help counter the Tkachuks, but Cooper may not want to change a winning lineup.
Saturday night is going to be must-see TV.
Kevin Lankinen, Finland
It was a rough opening night for Juuse Saros.
You can’t put the 6-1 loss to the Americans all on the Nashville Predators goaltender, but there were a couple of deflating goals that found the back of the net Finland just couldn’t recover from.
Saros’s game has been declining for a couple of years. He’s gone from a .919 save percentage in 2022-23 to a .906 last year and now down below .900 this season. Part of that is the Predators have had a disastrous campaign, but it’s hard to believe Saros gives Finland the best chance to win at this tournament right now. I’d give Kevin Lankinen the next start to see if you can catch lightning in a bottle.
Between Thatcher Demko’s injury and the drama in Vancouver, Lankinen has really saved the Canucks’ season and has been one of the biggest reason the team is in a playoff spot at the moment. He has a 19-8-7 record and has been particularly good on the road, picking up more than half his wins away from home.
Finland needs to have much more of an emphasis on quality goaltending at this tournament for a couple of reasons. For starters, they don’t have any room for error after losing their first game. It’s going to be a must-win for them versus Sweden on Saturday and they can’t afford any missteps. Secondly, they’ve been decimated by injuries on defence, losing Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Ristolainen and Jani Hakanpaa on their blue line.
That leaves Esa Lindell as arguably their best defenceman and Finland is going to have to rely on the inexperienced Urho Vaakanainen and Nikolas Matinpalo for significant minutes. They are going to need their goaltender to bail them out with regularity to have any chance and right now Saros is struggling to do that.
Lankinen gives them the best chance to win at the moment and in a short tournament like this one, Finland doesn’t have anymore time to waste.
