MONTREAL — Canada boarded its plane in the wee hours of Sunday morning feeling confident.
The men's national team also has little margin for error as the 4 Nations Face-Off shifts to Boston.
Hours earlier, Canada fell 3-1 to the archrival United States inside an incandescent Bell Centre that witnessed three fights in a chaotic opening nine seconds.
When the game finally settled down after the card of Brandon Hagel (Canada) versus Matthew Tkachuk (U.S.), Sam Bennett (Canada) versus Matthew Tkachuk (U.S.), and Colton Parayko (Canada) versus J.T. Miller (U.S.) wrapped up, the team with the red Maple Leaf on its chest jumped out to a 1-0 lead.
Connor McDavid's breathtaking individual effort Saturday night brought the crowd to a crescendo, but the Americans pushed back with a goal netminder Jordan Binnington wanted back off the stick of Jake Guentzel before Dylan Larkin scored the eventual winner.
Canada pushed for the tie late, but will need a regulation win Monday afternoon at TD Garden against Finland to guarantee a rematch with the U.S. in Thursday's final.
The Americans clinched first with a second straight normal-time victory — the 4 Nations is using the three, two, one point system for the round-robin standings — at the event serving as an appetizer for the NHL's Olympic return next year.
"Short tournament," Canadian head coach Jon Cooper said. "This is our Game 7."
The country's brain trust has had a short runway to figure out line combinations and deployment at the showcase that also represents the closest men's hockey has come to best-on-best since the 2016 World Cup.
Brad Marchand, for example, has averaged just nine minutes 53 seconds through two games, which includes Wednesday's 4-3 overtime victory against Sweden, while Bennett played just 7:41 in his debut Saturday.
"There's some guys in here we've probably got to get in a little bit more," Cooper said. "But this is what you find out in the two games. You've got to learn from this. We'll see what happens and who plays where, but we've learned a lot."
Canadian captain Sidney Crosby — an injury concern ahead of the tournament and playing at less than 100 per cent — liked his country's effort in the electric U.S. matchup.
"We don't have a lot of time to think about it," he said. "It's a big one here coming up."
Canada saw a 26-game winning streak when Crosby's in the lineup snapped Saturday, while the country suffered its first loss in high-level international play since the preliminary round of the Vancouver Olympics some 15 years ago.
The NHL went to five straight Games between 1998 and 2014 — the Canadians won gold in 2002, 2010 and 2014 — but skipped 2018 for business reasons before COVID-19 put a wrench in plans for 2022.
"Everybody's all in," Parayko said of his group's mindset.
Canada has scored five goals at the 4 Nations, but didn't do enough to break through on the Americans in crunch time.
"We weren't generating the way I thought," Cooper said. "In the third period, we had the puck a lot, but we only had the puck for about 180 feet. We couldn't get it past that extra 20 feet. That's stuff we've got to look at."
A big boost would come from the return of No. 1 defenceman Cale Makar, who missed Saturday with an illness.
Makar called it "one of the toughest" decisions he's ever had to make.
"I'm going to do everything I can to play tomorrow," he told reporters in Boston on Sunday after hitting the ice for an optional practice. "I just got to make sure I feel right, body and everything-wise and go from there."
Parayko is confident Canada has yet to hit its stride.
"There's always things that we can nitpick and try to get better at," he said. "Take the positives, get rid of the negative, and push it again."
Bennett said the group is in a good place as it pivots to the next challenge.
"We showed that we're going to stick up for each other," he said. "We fought right to the end. This is a confident group with a lot of experience. There's no worries in here."
There's also very little wiggle room.
A loss would eliminate Canada, while an OT or shootout win opens the door for a Swedish team taking on a U.S. squad with nothing to play for Monday night in Boston.
"Just excited," McDavid said of facing Finland. "Another opportunity for us to go get a big win."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2025.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
