MONTREAL _ This turned out to be the city of brotherly love on Thursday night.
Led by two-goal efforts from Brady and Matthew Tkachuk along with goals from Jake Guentzel and Matt Boldy, the United States opened the 4 Nations Face-Off with a convincing 6-1 victory over Team Finland at the Bell Centre.
The Americans put this away with two goals in a span of 11 seconds in the third period and Brady Tkachuk’s second of the night gave the club a commanding 5-1 advantage three minutes into the third.
It didn’t have the emotion witnessed only 24 hours earlier when Team Canada beat Team Sweden 4-3 in a dramatic overtime, but Team Finland kept it a lot closer than some would have expected.
The key was a decision by coach Mike Sullivan to put the Tkachuk brothers together late in the second.
“Given the nature of the tournament there is not a lot of time to let things play out,” Sullivan said. “We wanted to watch and see what we liked and maybe where we could effect a little change. I don’t think they’re only great players, they’re great teammates.”
ONE TKACHUK, TWO TKACHUK
It was a nice night for the Tkachuk family and give them credit because they stepped up when they were needed most by combining for four goals and five points.
“It’s annoying to face one of them in the NHL at once. I can’t imagine both of them,” said U.S. blueliner Zack Werenski.
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk made his presence felt early in the tourney. He tied it up 1-1 at 10:21 of the first with a shot from below the goal line that deflected off Juuse Saros and into the net, which helped to make up for a tough start by the States.
“I don’t think it’s hit yet, to be honest,” Brady said. “I can only imagine how proud my parents, family and friends that have helped us along the way, and I know from my experience. I was excited for this. After a couple of days, this has been the best experience in my hockey life.
Brady Tkachuk and his dad, Keith, who played in four Winter Olympics for the United States, are the fourth father/son combination in history to score a goal in an NHL international tourney. Just for good measure, Matthew added his name to the father/son with his two third-period efforts.
“I can’t imagine wearing the red, white and blue with your best friend, your brother and in a best-on-best tournament,” said American defenceman Brock Faber. “I can’t imagine how cool that is for them and their family. They came to play tonight that’s for sure.”
In the second, Sullivan gave Matthew and Brady a couple of shifts together with Jack Eichel to try to get something going. The Tkachuk brothers combined on Brady’s second goal of the night three minutes into the second to give the Americans a 5-1 lead.
“What helps us is just the communication,” Matthew said. “We’re pretty brutally honest with each other. If we want the puck in a certain spot, we’re going to tell (each other) right away. The in-game adjustment was good and we didn’t really have that much time to think about it.”
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
This generation of stars from the United States is determined to show the country is neck-and-neck with Canada on the world stage in development.
That’s why this generation of American stars needs to have success, especially with a big game against Canada on Saturday. The U.S. wasn’t able to control the game the way everybody expected, but the club held a 2-1 lead on Finland through 40 minutes.
The Americans had outshot Finland 20-13 after two periods.
Faber tipped a shot from the point by Finnish goalie Saros at 17:04 of the second to give the Americans their first lead. The States needed that because the Finns did a good job of frustrating the Americans.
“We just kept pushing and playing our game,” said Guentzel. “We had to get familiar with the guys we’re playing with and we did a good job.”
All eyes were on goaltender Connor Hellebuyck because he’s the best in the NHL right now and he has no problem stealing games.
This is a big stage and he has to continue the kind of play he’s had with the Winnipeg Jets here. He wasn’t tested a lot but got the job done.
The opening goal on Hellebuyck was one he’d want back. Defenceman Henri Jokiharju, of the Buffalo Sabres, beat Hellebuyck on a shot from the right circle that went high at 7:31 of the first.
FINNISH FLASH
The Americans came into this game 4-1-1 lifetime record against the Finns in NHL international tournament history.
The last time the clubs met in 2004 in the World Cup of Hockey, Finland scored a 2-1 victory over the States in Minnesota.
Nobody was picking the Finns to win this one and they knew it, which inspired their effort as they gave the Americans everything they had but fell apart in 11 seconds in the third when the United States pulled out to a 4-1 advantage.
We’ve learned in the first two games of this Four Nations tourney that all these countries are closely matched. Nobody is head and shoulders above the rest in the first taste of best-on-best hockey since 2016.