MONTREAL – For Canadiens forwards Joel Armia and Patrik Laine, Thursday felt like a home game in more ways than one.
Armia and Laine were playing in their home arena—the Bell Centre. Finland was the designated home team. And the Montreal crowd? Loudly pro-Suomi.
The outcome, however, wasn’t so storybook.
Finland was dealt a 6-1 loss to the United States in their opening contest, leaving them a lofty uphill battle as the tournament continues.
Here’s a brief summary of the game:
UNITED STATES 6-1 FINLAND
Henri Jokiharju started the scoring for the Finns in the first period.
However, Brady Tkachuk responded shortly after, and the Americans didn’t look back from there.
Matt Boldy, Matthew Tkachuk (2), Jake Guentzel and B. Tkachuk rallied off five unanswered goals for USA, who cruised to the finish line, claiming all three points available on Thursday.
Armia and Laine each recorded one shot and one hit in 9:52 and 15:58 of playing time, respectively.
What’s next?
Some of hockey’s best international rivalries: Finland vs. Sweden and Canada vs. USA.
First up, Armia, Laine and Finland meet Sweden at the Bell Centre on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET. Later in the day, Samuel Montembeault and Canada host the United States, also at the Bell Centre. That game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.
