BOSTON — As the only team with two regulation wins, the United States has already clinched a spot in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
But that does not mean Monday night’s round-robin finale with Sweden will be just an exhibition.
“I guess it can be easy to get complacent, but I don’t even think it’s going to get in our mind that we’re happy with where we’re at,” U.S. forward Brady Tkachuk said. “We know what our goal has been right from the start, and I don’t think we’re going to stop until we get it.”
The Americans beat Finland 6-1 and Canada 3-1 in Montreal to begin the tournament. In the latter game on Saturday, they set an immediate physical tone and finished off the victory with three unanswered goals.
Among others, Jake Guentzel has risen to the occasion in his first international competition, scoring a tournament-best three goals and matching teammate Zach Werenski with four points. The first-year Tampa Bay Lightning forward tallied twice against Canada.
“Jake is a high-stakes player,” said U.S. coach Mike Sullivan, who coached Guentzel in Pittsburgh from 2016-24. “He plays his very best when it means the most and I don’t think there’s a stage big enough for him. … I’m not surprised at all.”
There is no question that the U.S. has a talent-rich lineup, but Werenski — who is in the midst of a career year for the Columbus Blue Jackets — is one player helping to lead a young defensive averaging just 26 years of age.
Since rostering six initial players last summer, Sullivan stressed the importance of strong play at the back end.
“As talented as this team is, it’s hard to win a championship if you’re not willing and committed to play defense. We know this group is capable of scoring goals,” Sullivan said. “Our challenge is to become a team and make sure we’re committed to playing the game the right way. … For me, that gives us the opportunity to act on our talent.”
The U.S. saw forward Matthew Tkachuk leave Saturday’s game in the third period due to a lower-body injury. There was no update on his status.
Sweden is out to finish round-robin play on a positive note after losing 4-3 overtime contests to Canada and Finland on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively.
Its odds of reaching the final are the longest, although Canada or Finland dropping a point in Monday’s opener leaves it a glimmer of hope. Sweden’s only path is to defeat the U.S. and have Canada-Finland go to overtime.
“It’s not great,” forward William Nylander said of Sweden’s tournament hopes entering the games in Boston. “We have two overtime losses in two games so, I mean, we just better regroup here and play the game against (the U.S.), go win and hopefully the scores go our way.”
Results aside, defenseman Erik Karlsson knows that his team has more to give.
“I don’t think (Saturday) we played as good as we were hoping to,” Karlsson said. “I don’t think that we reached the standards that we have set on ourselves in that room.”
While the Americans have ridden Connor Hellebuyck in net for the first two games, Filip Gustavsson was pulled from Saturday’s first period against Finland due to illness. Linus Ullmark, a former Boston Bruin, entered in relief.
Gustavsson was “feeling a bit under the weather,” according to Sweden coach Sam Hallam.
The starter for Monday has yet to be determined.
Tre Kronor has an active defense during the tournament. Lucas Raymond leads the team with three points, all assists. Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin and Jonas Brodin have all scored goals from the blue line.
All that is missing now, though, is a victory.
“It should be tight, it is tight, we are very disappointed not being the winning team,” Hallam said after Saturday’s game.
–Joshua Kummins, Field Level Media
