Team Canada star Nathan MacKinnon offered a strong comment Monday ahead of his country’s rematch with the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off event.
Canada beat Finland 5-3 on Monday to advance to the finals, where they will take on the US at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on Thursday. The US won the round robin game between the countries 3-1 on Saturday in Montreal to clinch a spot in the final.
After his team’s win over Finland, MacKinnon expressed optimism about the rematch with the US.
“We feel like we can beat those guys and we plan on playing a little better Thursday,” MacKinnon said, via The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.
While things didn’t go Canada’s way in the first meeting between the teams, they do have a few things going in their favor for the rematch. Three American players: Matthew Tkachuk, Auston Matthews and Charlie McAvoy all did not play against Sweden on Monday, while Brady Tkachuk got hurt in the first period of the game.
The US may be more banged up and shorthanded against Canada this time around. Also, after losing 3-1, it would probably be tough for Canada to lose by a greater margin in the second game, though that is entirely possible.
One thing we do know is that the fan interest in the finals is sky-high. Ticket prices are already surging, with prices around $1,100 to get into the game.
