After a thrilling debut to the tournament with Canada topping Sweden in OT, would the second match up live up to the excitement?
First Period
Similar to what we saw in the first match up, the favored team came out with some extra energy. The US team moved the puck around well and created scoring chances and was rewarded with an early power play. The top unit of Eichel, Matthews, Guentzel, M. Tkachuk, and Fox struggled to create and rejoin the zone, the 2nd unit did not accomplish much in limited time either. The US continued to control play early but Finland got the first goal after a Jokiharju shot got slightly deflected by a backchecking Kyle Connor and through Hellebuyck.
FIN GOAL 0-1 Jokiharju (Granlund, Maatta) 7:31
The US struck back shortly after when a successful Werenski keep-in found Boldy who then hit Brady Tkachuk on the back side of the play who did a great job of battling through the back check to put his own rebound off Saros and into the net.
USA GOAL 1-1 Brady (Boldy, Werenski) 10:21
Finland was awarded a power play not long after the US goal but did not threaten the US PK too much. The remainder of the period was fairly quiet as the Finnish team settled in and prevented the US side from getting much of anything going on.
Second Period
The first period started off well for the US, but the second did not. There was a whole lot of nothing happening in this period thanks to some strong defensive play from Finland. The first American shot on goal came near the midway point when Guentzel hit Saros on another lack-luster power play attempt. It was clear in this period that the Werenski-McAvoy pairing had become the top unit as Sullivan mixed up the other pairs as well as tweaking the foward lines looking for a spark. Finally, late in the period Matt Boldy tipped a Faber shot from the blue line through Saros to give the US the lead.
USA GOAL 2-1 Boldy (Faber, Connor) 17:04
With under 5 seconds left, Matthews battled through a murky faceoff draw in the offensive zone and forced Maatta to hook him to prevent an open slot chance. The US would start the 3rd on the man advantage.
Third Period
First thing to note in this period is that Zach Werenski replaced Adam fox on the top unit and then they immediately scored on the power play 15 seconds in. Was this one fluky? Sure, but Z got his second assist on the play. Matthew Tkachuk threw a fairly harmless wrister from high in the zone that was ever so slightly deflected over Saros’ glove by a Finnish defender.
USA PP GOAL 3-1 Matthew (Werenski, Guentzel) 00:15
Shortly after the ensuing faceoff, Matthews collected the puck in the neutral zone before finding Guentzel who ripped a shot behind Saros to extend the lead to three, 11 seconds after the PP goal.
USA GOAL 4-1 Guentzel (Matthews, Hughes) 00:26
Now the game began to open up as the Finns were forced to press for offense. 3 minutes in to the period two Tkachuk touch passes in the neutral zone gave Eichel the puck on a clear entry. He passed it back to Brady Tkachuk who displayed some wonderfully soft hands when he swiftly corralled the pass, dangled, and beat Saros for his second of the game.
USA GOAL 5-1 Brady (Eichel, Matthew) 3:00
A minute later this game went to 4 on 4 after Aho and Fox were assigned roughing minors (?) before quickly becoming a 4 on 3 cahnce for Finland following a Zach Werenski trip. The Finnish unit of Barkov-Hintz-Laine-Rantanen created some movement and shots on goal, but nothing got behind Hellebuyck and this was the end of the hope for a comeback. A penalty halfway through the frame against Joel Armia brought on the new USA top power play unit featuring Z and Matthews and Eichel on opposite sides. The puck movement was much better and the unit scored after a patented Werenski wrister through traffic got to the net where Matthew Tkachuk knocked it down and then put back his own rebound.
USA PP GOAL 6-1 Matthew (Werenski, Eichel) 11:13
Final Thoughts
Finland is the weakest team in this competition, but they are known for playing a tough tournament style and this was the first “best on best” competition for many of these US players. Some early struggles would’ve been fair to expect from the US team. Hellebuyck’s first goal against was a little shaky, but by the end this US team showed its mettle and looks to certainly be in contention for the trophy. This is way better than an All-star break and I dig hearing the guitar solo from Free Bird ringing out after the US scores.
Zach Werenski is still very good at Hockey. Not a lot worked for team USA in the first 40 minutes of this game, but Z certainly did. Team Finland’s structure and center depth of Aho and Barkov did a tremendous job of foiling anything the US forwards wanted to do early, and their good forecheck pressured Faber/Hanifin/Slavin/Fox into some long shifts in the d zone. Only the McAvoy Werenski pair seemed to avoid the long shift on the d zone and to create some offense on the other end.
Midway through the game US Coach Sullivan put the Tkachuk brothers on the same line with Eichel at center to sensational results. Two goals apiece for the Tkachuk brothers, and player of the game recognition for the senior Tkachuk. Matt Boldy was about the only player early on creating offense for the Americans and he came away with two points on the night.
Up Next
Two games on Saturday with Finland and Sweden at 1 PM EST before the main event of Canada and USA at 8 PM EST.