10 questions ahead of Canada-U.S. 4 Nations Face-Off championship

BOSTON -- Canada and the United States, Round 2, the rematch, for the title, for bragging rights, for it all.

"It's a Game 7, right," U.S. forward Jack Eichel said. "It's for everything."

The U.S. and Canada will play for the 4 Nations Face-Off championship at TD Garden on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, SN, TVAS).

"There's no bigger rivalry in hockey," Canada forward Brad Marchand said. "I think it's the matchup that everybody wanted."

The U.S. punched its ticket into the final with a wild 3-1 win against Canada at Bell Centre on Saturday before losing 2-1 to Sweden on Monday.

Canada got to this point by defeating Finland 5-3 on Monday.

If Thursday's game is anything like the game the Americans and Canadians played Saturday there will be fireworks, intensity, emotion, all of it. It will be raucous. There might be, to steal a word from Canada coach Jon Cooper, mayhem.

"I think it's great for hockey that there's an opportunity for these two teams to meet again," U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said. "It was a very competitive hockey game the first game. I would anticipate the next one will be every bit as competitive if not more."

That game featured three fights in the first nine seconds, a combined 31 hits in the first period, a spectacular Connor McDavid goal to give Canada an early lead, an American comeback and a systematic and clinical defensive shutdown game by the United States to end it.

"You look at the last game and the intensity, both teams got to know each other pretty well pretty quickly," Canada captain Sidney Crosby said. "It'll be a great challenge."

The United States hasn't won a best-on-best international tournament in 29 years, since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

Canada has won five of the past six and nine of 13 since the 1976 Canada Cup, including three in a row (2010 Vancouver Olympics, 2014 Sochi Olympics and 2016 World Cup of Hockey).

"This is huge," Eichel said. "It's the biggest game I've played in in quite some time, maybe ever. It's what we wanted."

Here are 10 questions to get you thinking with two days between games:

1. Will the U.S. injuries be a problem?

The injuries are starting to pile up for the United States.

Charlie McAvoy has already been ruled out for the game with the Boston Bruins saying the defenseman was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday to undergo testing related to an upper-body injury.

That is a huge loss for the U.S. as McAvoy had a dominant game against Canada. And although Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes is going to come to Boston, he can only play if the U.S. has fewer than six healthy defensemen available.

Matthew Tkachuk (lower body) and Auston Matthews (upper body) missed the game against Sweden. Brady Tkachuk (lower body) was injured in the first period and didn't return after the first intermission.

It sounds like all three are possible, if not likely to play Thursday, with Sullivan on Tuesday saying he expects Matthews to play.

Matthew Tkachuk said on TNT during the game against Sweden that he's looking forward to playing in the game, an indication he should be good to go. U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said Brady Tkachuk was held out for precautionary reasons and he thinks he'll be good to go.

"We'll see how he responds but I don't anticipate it being an issue," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said Matthews didn't play because he was "nicked up" with an upper-body injury, but he wasn't as forthright with an update and more informations should come Thursday.

2. Are we in for another bonkers start?

The atmosphere will be emotionally charged with the only difference being an expected pro-USA crowd this time. The intensity on the ice should match it when the puck drops.

But to expect a fight off the first puck drop, another directly off the ensuing face-off, and another just seconds later might be a bit too much.

"We have a hockey game to win so we're going to do whatever it takes as a group to win the game," U.S. forward J.T. Miller said.

3. Does Canada have an answer for the Tkachuks?

Let's assume Matthew and Brady Tkachuk will be in the U.S. lineup.

Really, does anybody think these two are missing this game?

Ask any U.S. player and they will tell you that the Tkachuk brothers drag the team into the fight.

At the beginning of the game Saturday, both literally fought; Matthew with Brandon Hagel at two seconds and Brady with Sam Bennett at three seconds.

Canada will have to find a way to tame the Tkachuks in order to win the game, assuming they're both in the game.

4. Can the U.S. pressure overwhelm Canada again?

The U.S. executed its gameplan almost exactly how it wanted Saturday.

Pucks were strategically dumped into corners so they could be chased down and won or aggressively forechecked into turnovers. The physicality was evident. There was zero selfishness with the puck. Canada paid a price, physically and on the scoreboard.

The U.S. gameplan won't change Thursday. The only difference can be how the Canadians handle it.

"A lot of this game is about puck management," Cooper said. "Sometimes it's not as fun to watch. There's a lot of hard work because much of the game you might be working without the puck but when you put it in places and you go get it back you can lean on teams. We didn't do that very well against the U.S. in the first game and we made some adjustments and it worked in our favor (against Finland). We have to put stress on them and I didn't think we did enough."

5. Will Hellebuyck rise to the occasion?

Connor Hellebuyck has been the best goalie in the tournament with 45 saves on 47 shots for a 1.00 goals-against average and .957 save percentage in the U.S.'s first two games.

Hellebuyck was near flawless against Canada on Saturday with 25 saves on 26 shots. Only McDavid on a spectacular solo rush got a puck past him.

But this will be arguably the biggest game of Hellebuyck's career, or at the very least since he played May 10, 2018, when he was in net for the Winnipeg Jets making 36 saves in a Game 7 win against the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference Second Round.

He hasn't played in more than six games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2021, when the Jets swept the Edmonton Oilers in the first round and got swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.

6. Can Binnington be the difference?

Cooper went back to Jordan Binnington against Finland on Monday after he gave up two goals that even the goalie didn't like against the United States on Saturday.

It paid off, sort of.

Binnington made 23 saves and Canada won the game against Finland, but the goalie allowed three goals on nine shots in the third period as the Finns made things very interesting after falling behind 4-0 just 25:03 into the game.

He has a less-than-desirable .862 save percentage (eight goals against on 74 shots) albeit in a small three-game sample size.

The good news for Canada is Binnington has won a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden, doing so with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, so he knows how to play in a big game here in Boston.

7. Will this be McDavid's moment?

McDavid has already had a few moments in the tournament such as his goal in the first period against the U.S. and his goal in the first period against Finland.

Canada doesn't absolutely need McDavid to make magic happen to win against the U.S., but if he does it would be another defining moment in what is already a brilliant nine-year career.

He has been a leading voice among the players calling for the return of best-on-best hockey for the past several years. The game on Thursday represents a chance for No. 97 to put a stamp on this tournament.

8. Or is it still Crosby's time?

Sidney Crosby has made a career out of shining brightest in the spotlight, especially when wearing a Canada sweater.

* Golden goal in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

* A goal in Canada's 3-0 win against Sweden in the gold-medal game of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

* Most valuable player of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, leading Canada to gold with 10 points.

* Gold at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship. Gold at the 2015 IIHF World Championship.

* Twenty-six consecutive wins wearing a Canada sweater until losing to the U.S. on Saturday.

Crosby has stood out in this tournament too, starting with three assists in Canada's 4-3 overtime win against Sweden and a goal and an assist in its 5-3 win against Finland.

It wouldn't be a shock to anyone if Canada climbs on Crosby's back to win on Thursday.

"He's a true inspiration to all the young guys in that locker room, and even older guys," Cooper said. "In our country, he walks on water."

9. How will Makar impact Canada's game?

Cale Makar was too sick to play in the first installment of Canada-U.S. in this tournament. Instead, the defenseman watched the game and had these observations:

"I think at times we tried to slow it down a little bit too much," Makar said. "The U.S. is such a dynamic team. They're going full force, so you've got to be ready, everybody has to support each other. This tournament is so fast so those home run plays aren't always there. It's going to be those little chips and those little things that have to be done right to create those chances that are hopefully going to help us."

Makar should help Canada be better with all of that. He was against Finland on Monday.

He's good enough to make the difference in what should be a close game.

"He's a star," Cooper said. "He's the one-man breakout. He just glides out there on the ice. His reads are phenomenal. It's a luxury, let's be honest. I was so glad to have him back."

10. Will the game open up at all?

If it does, it'll likely favor Canada, which wouldn't mind playing a speed and skill game as opposed to a heavy, physical, forechecking, grinding type of game.

The game at Bell Centre never opened up. It was tight all the way through, playing to the U.S. advantage, leading to a 3-1 win.

The expectation is it will be similar to that.

"All the best players in the League are sharing the same ice and the shots are like 20-20 so it just shows how tight everyone is checking now," MacKinnon said. "I just think every opportunity we want to make them earn and not give them free chances."

Canada wouldn't mind stealing some of those free chances from the U.S.

The Americans too have to make sure they don't give any away.

"Everyone in this room is so amped up for that game," U.S. forward Jack Hughes said. "That's the big one."