Yesterday we saw one of the most exciting international hockey games in years.
Team USA took down Team Canada in their round-robin matchup at the Four Nations faceoff in Montreal.
The game was highly anticipated and the drama took over immediately with a full line brawl at the beginning of the game after Canadian fans booed the US national anthem.
But ultimately, it was the Americans that came away with the victory, quieting the Canadian crowd.
Unfortunately though, the team did suffer one major setback in the contest.
Florida Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk, who has 2 goals and three points through 2 games, missed the second half of the 3rd period with an injury.
NHL insider Frank Seravalli noted this morning that he had a noticeable limp after the game, and the team is shutting him down in their last game against Sweden before the finals.
Hopefully this is just a minor ailment that Tkachuk will be able to play through when the USA plays in the finals on Thursday.
Who they will meet in that game is yet to be determined, but it will most likely be a rematch against Canada unless Finland can pull off an upset victory in their last round-robin game.
The Four Nations tournament has blown away expectations so far, with fans across the hockey world enthralled by the heroics of their country's top players.
The players themselves have expressed disappointment with the tournament's overtime rules, but other than that, they are clearly just as excited if not more so to play in these games than the fans are to watch them.
As a result, the final should be one of the best games of the season, so be sure to tune in.
POLL | ||
FÉVRIER 16 | 911 ANSWERS Bad News for Team USA and Matthew Tkachuk Only Hours After Clinching Finals Bid Do you think Matthew Tkachuk and Team USA will win the Four Nations faceoff? | ||
Yes | 375 | 41.2 % |
No | 536 | 58.8 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Sam Reinhart | 4 | - | 4 | |
Carter Verhaeghe | - | 3 | 3 | |
Aleksander Barkov | - | 2 | 2 | |
Vasily Podkolzin | 1 | - | 1 | |
Matthew Tkachuk | 1 | - | 1 | |
Connor Brown | - | 1 | 1 | |
Aaron Ekblad | - | 1 | 1 | |
Anton Lundell | - | 1 | 1 | |
Eetu Luostarinen | - | 1 | 1 | |
Jake Walman | - | 1 | 1 | |
Sam Bennett | - | - | - | |
Sergei Bobrovsky | - | - | - | |
Evan Bouchard | - | - | - | |
Leon Draisaitl | - | - | - | |
Mattias Ekholm | - | - | - | |
Gustav Forsling | - | - | - | |
Trent Frederic | - | - | - | |
Jonah Gadjovich | - | - | - | |
A.J. Greer | - | - | - | |
Adam Henrique | - | - | - | |
Complete stats |