Boston — There are no shifts off in hockey when wearing your nation’s colors, even though Monday night’s match between the US and Sweden may not have had any tournament consequences.
Pride was still at stake, particularly for Sweden, who lost their opening two games in OT before defeating Team USA 2-1 in the 4 Nations Face-Off in front of a crowded TD Garden.
Due to the high caliber of play and player commitment, no team in this event has been immune to sickness or injury.
However, Team USA’s selection is now questionable going into the two days break before Thursday’s final.
The Boston Globe reports that Bruins defender Charlie McAvoy was taken to Mass General Hospital due to an upper-body injury.
The Americans had to start with 11 forwards versus Sweden since head coach Mike Sullivan had ruled out McAvoy and forward Matthew Tkachuk (lower body) in the morning.
Then, during warmups, it was announced that Auston Matthews, the captain of the United States, would also not participate because of upper-body pain.
However, Brady Tkachuk’s ungainly collision with the post during the first period on Monday night raised concerns to a new level.
He went to the locker room, returned for a 14-second shift, and may have missed a few rotational revolutions. Brady Tkachuk remained on the bench for the rest of the first rather than heading down the tunnel again, but after the first intermission, he was declared out for the remainder of the game.
When it came to Brady, Sullivan stated, “We held him out more for precautionary reasons at that point.” We’ll see how it reacts, but I don’t think it will be a problem. I haven’t received an update following the game yet. Indeed, it’s not simple. That early in the game, we lose a player. We’ve already eliminated one. We made an effort to distribute the minutes somewhat such that no one was overworked. However, it is what it is when you lose to two players that early in the game. The boys, in my opinion, competed fiercely.
After missing the last 12:36 of the USA-Canada game, Brady promised Matthew that his brother would be prepared for the rematch with Canada.
It’s reasonable to presume that Matthew would likely feel the same way about Brady.
When Matthew joined Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk in the TNT broadcast booth on Thursday, he effectively promised that he would be performing. He expressed excitement and said he was anticipating the finest atmosphere he had ever played in.
The impact the Tkachuk brothers have had on Team USA and the competition cannot be measured. The Americans would suffer greatly in many ways if they lost even one.
According to Sullivan, Team USA has not yet begun reaching out to reserve players in case they become necessary.
We’re optimistic that some of these people will return,” he stated. I’d expect that we would. Naturally, there will be backup plans in case we need personnel, but we’ll have to wait and see how things work out here over the course of the next day or two.
Additionally, the competition seems to be affected by the virus.
Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad and Rickard Rakell were both sidelined because of sickness, making Sweden particularly badly struck. Cale Makar of Canada was unwell and missed the first Canada-USA match, but he recovered well enough to play against Finland on Monday afternoon.
For the additional American skaters, it was a night to remember. The narrative just writes itself at times.
Additionally, Chris Kreider had an incredible start to his 4 Nations debut.
The Rangers forward grabbed a rebound 35 seconds into his first shift to give Team USA a 1-0 lead after being unveiled as a starter to thunderous cheers from his home fans.
He accomplished this while skating with Brady Tkachuk and Jack Eichel, two players the Rangers have occasionally made clear their interest in during Kreider’s stint in New York.
When Rangers teammate J.T. Miller watched Kreider open the score, he noted, “It was awesome, first shift, too.” “I’m happy for Chris because he has been an incredible teammate and deserves the opportunity to come in today and score.”
The Americans lost Brady Tkachuk for a moment, and Sweden pushed forward.
Later in the first session, Gustav Nyquist knotted the score, and with 56 seconds remaining, Devils forward Jesper Bratt scored the game-winning goal.
With Vincent Trocheck seemingly hurting his right hand on his final shift of the first, the injury concerns simply kept coming.
Before the period ended, he went down the tunnel, but he came back for the second.
Trocheck managed to complete the game, although he didn’t appear entirely at ease. After the game, he claimed to be OK.
