US vs Canada: Four Nations Faceoff Championship Showdown

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00:00We welcome you to our number two live right here on this

00:03Thursday morning on the early line on SportsGrid. But on this

00:07Thursday night, all eyes will be on Boston inside TD Garden in

00:11the four nations face off championship bout between the

00:15bitter border rivals, the United States and Canada. So to get you

00:19set with everything you need to know for what has been a

00:23sensational and fun tournament in the four nations face off.

00:27The NHL's Pete Jensen joins us bright and early right from the

00:30jump in our number two to get you set Pete, as always, we

00:35appreciate the time. Thanks for being here ahead of what should

00:38be a great matchup tonight, the US and Canada for the

00:42championship in the four nations.

00:45Absolutely, guys, anytime, especially for something like

00:48this, right, the drama is going to unfold one way or another

00:52tonight, I expect it to be a tight game, have the feel of a

00:55game seven of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but even better

00:59because it's two nations, bitter rivals and a lot on the line

01:04tonight for these players who have really exceeded everybody's

01:08expectations in terms of how much they care for this

01:11tournament. It's been amazing to see refreshing to see for all

01:15the sports fans out there. And this game has plenty of allure,

01:19whether you're a diehard hockey fan, which it's a dream scenario

01:23or if you're just a casual sports fan, looking for

01:25something to get jacked up about

01:27for the name on the front of the sweater tonight in the pride of

01:32country inside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, the

01:36United States on home ice taking on Canada, of course, on

01:41Saturday, Pete in round robin action, the United States up in

01:45Montreal, victorious with a three one victory over their

01:49Canadian foes, a lot of vitriol from the very start a ton of

01:53fights, basically as the puck was dropped. So as we look at

01:58the odds for tonight's title game, even on the money line,

02:02minus 110 on both sides, the Americans a slight favorite in

02:07that puck line, it's plus 235. If you think the United States

02:11can win by multiple goals, five and a half is that over under

02:16people get into the game breakdown. But let's start with

02:19the atmosphere. It was raucous. There was some hate early on

02:23Saturday. What do you anticipate tonight in the championship game

02:27in Boston?

02:29This is going to be crazy. It's a hot ticket. There's some

02:32celebrities that are going to be there. It's going to be the real

02:35deal in terms of that high intensity. You know, totally

02:40everything on the line, everything up for grabs. These

02:44guys have not played prior to Saturday, they haven't played in

02:48a US Canada game of this magnitude in almost a decade. And

02:52I even saw something someone was saying, and I believe it, it's

02:56the most important USA Canada game, most important USA

03:00international hockey game on American soil since 1980 miracle

03:06on ice. Maybe that's a little overblown, but maybe it's not. I

03:10mean, people are really thirsty for this intensity, it's going to

03:14be a lot of fun. And one angle I like from a betting lens to

03:19maybe take advantage of that we've seen two of the six games

03:22in this tournament go to overtime. Another one almost did

03:26that last game when Finland almost came back and tied it

03:29against Canada. So Canada's played in some really tight

03:32games, you could go three way money line, and just sit back

03:36and watch the drama unfold and not have to sweat who's going to

03:39win or lose as long as it gets to overtime, you'd win that.

03:44Pete, let's take a look here at the game itself, because we'll

03:46get into the X's and O's who's going to win and how many goals

03:49possibly in the NDP markets. But I need to know this from you

03:51tonight, with Team USA, a lot of bodies banged up in this game

03:55means so much any roster changes expectations, or what have you

03:58been hearing for the past couple days with some of these lines?

04:03Right, so it sounds like the Kachuk brothers, I mean, those

04:06guys are gamers, super, you know, warriors for the US, even

04:11beyond just, you know, the scraps that went down at the

04:13beginning of that game against Canada. These guys are high shot

04:16volume guys, guys that crowd the front of the net. Brady Kachuk

04:21has never played in the Stanley Cup playoff game in his Ottawa

04:25Senators career. So I think everything is indicating that

04:29he's going to be in for this game. Austin Matthews missed the

04:32last game for precautionary reasons. It sounds like he's

04:35good to go. Quinn Hughes, unfortunately, it looked like he

04:38was going to be a surprise edition potentially, but he is

04:42not traveling from Vancouver to join USA because he has not been

04:47medically cleared. At least that's the latest update on that

04:50front. Kael McCarr, who missed Saturday's game against the US

04:54when the US beat Canada. He's playing for Canada with McKinnon

04:57and McDavid. He is back in the lineup. And he led Canada in

05:02ice time the last game. He's an all world defenseman. So that is

05:06a matchup that could maybe tilt the scale for Canada to have

05:09some bounce back appeal here. But Charlie McAvoy, unfortunately,

05:13who was a physical force in that Saturday game, he is out with a

05:17shoulder injury, and had to receive some medical treatment

05:22and stuff. So he's out for the game. That's unfortunate for the

05:25US.

05:26Pete, when you look at the guys on the ice tonight, of course, it

05:29is a star studded as you could ever hope on both sides for

05:33Canada and for the United States. So as we look at the

05:37prop component tonight in the X's and O's key matchups of this

05:42list and maybe some others, which player steps up on maybe

05:46the most significant stage they have seen in their international

05:49hockey career.

05:51The goalie matchup is crazy because almost any day of the

05:55week you would pick whether you're doing fantasy or props or

05:59betting on games, you'd pick Connor Hellebuck over Jordan

06:03Bennington almost every day of the week. But this comes down to

06:05one single game. And it brings back memories of when Jordan

06:09Bennington beat the Boston Bruins in game seven of the

06:13Stanley Cup final in 2019 on the road at TD Garden kind of ripped

06:19their hearts out. So he's back to a familiar crease in that

06:22regard. And he's the x factor for me for Team Canada. He's

06:27actually been slightly better than Hellebuck in high danger

06:30save percentage during this tournament. So like it's been a

06:34surprise. I thought they would play Aiden Hill a little bit

06:36more, but it's been all Bennington for Canada. And he's

06:39been better than expected. And then in terms of some of the

06:43other props, I like the Kachuk brothers to get on the board,

06:46you can get Brady Kachuk for a plus number for a point, even

06:50better number for him to score a goal again playing with his

06:54brother Matthew and also Jack Eichel. So three studs on that

06:57line for sure. Pete, taking a look at that game played on

07:01Saturday did go to the under the three to one final. We're

07:03taking a look here at the fan blue sports book over five and

07:05a half is actually at a plus one 10 price. Are we looking for

07:07a higher energy higher scoring game or similar to what we

07:11actually saw on Saturday? I wouldn't be surprised to see it

07:15open up a little bit, especially with all the firepower that

07:18Canada has. And then maybe if the US responds once or twice,

07:22and it turns into topsy turvy, I'm not going to say it's going

07:25to be crazy high scoring. You know how these game seven type

07:29games go tight checking, everybody's nervous and stuff

07:32like that. But could I see it maybe go to overtime at three to

07:35three? I wouldn't be surprised at all. Especially with again,

07:40this is the first time this tournament that we're seeing

07:43like McKinnon, McCarr, McDavid, Crosby, all on the ice together

07:48for Canada. So it's going to be a lot of fun. We had never seen

07:52that prior to the four nations face off. And then there's

07:55Austin Matthews, there's Jack Hughes, Jack Hughes is due for a

07:58goal even though his brother's not playing no goals on 10 shots

08:02on goal in this tournament. So certainly do.

08:05The man or two on Saturday night up in Montreal, the pride of

08:10Omaha, Nebraska, Jake Edsel, who should be a big factor tonight

08:14as well. Pete, the four nations face off MVP odds. Connor

08:18Hellebuyck, the goaltender for the United States plus 250 with

08:22the shortest number. Hellebuyck did not play in the finale

08:25against Sweden in round robin action on on Monday in Boston to

08:29preserve him for this final should be a big one tonight. And

08:33what a great game we will have inside TD Garden. So Pete

08:36Jensen, thank you for getting us ready for the four nations face

08:40off championship tonight between the US and Canada. More on the

08:44early line comes your way up next.

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