Pittsburgh Review

The United States triumphed over Canada with a 3-1 victory at the Bell Centre in Montreal during the 4 Nations Face-Off, an international tournament featuring NHL players. This win secured Team USA's place in the championship game scheduled for Thursday.

Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, who is also leading Team USA, expressed pride in his team's performance: “What an incredible hockey game,” he said. Sullivan praised his team, stating, “We believe in this group. We think we’ve got a terrific hockey team.”

The match began with unexpected intensity as Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers and his brother Brady of the Ottawa Senators engaged in fights right after the opening faceoff. J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers joined shortly after, making it three fights within nine seconds.

Sullivan commented on this early aggression: “I knew we were going to be jacked up to play... Momentum is such a big part of this game.”

Team Canada’s head coach Jon Cooper acknowledged the effort from both sides: “When it was over, for 59 minutes, two teams battled each other as hard as they could.” He noted that despite having skilled players, opportunities were limited due to tight checking.

Jake Guentzel was pivotal for Team USA by equalizing after Connor McDavid scored first for Canada and later securing victory with an empty-net goal. Sullivan lauded Guentzel's performance: “Jake, he’s a high-stakes player. He plays his very best when it means the most.”

Sidney Crosby reflected on Canada's loss but remained optimistic about their upcoming match against Finland: “I thought we competed hard... We’ve just got to keep getting better and learn from this one.”

Upcoming matches will take place at TD Garden in Boston:

- Monday features Canada vs. Finland at 1 PM and Sweden vs. United States at 8 PM.

- The championship game is set for Thursday at 8 PM.