U.S., Canada gearing up for intense rematch in 4 Nations Face-Off final

BOSTON -- Canada calls it “our game.” The United States says it’s “our time.”

We’ll see.

The 4 Nations Face-Off is down to two.

The rivals will play in the championship game at TD Garden on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, SN, TVAS), after Canada clinched a spot with a 5-3 win against Finland here Monday afternoon.

It will be a rematch of the Americans’ emotional, physical 3-1 win against the Canadians at Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday, and it could be a classic.

“It’s a Game 7, right?” U.S. center Jack Eichel said. “It’s for everything. You’re going to see desperate hockey. You’re going to see everything you saw in the first game and more, I imagine. It’ll be great.”

To understand what this means to the players, consider that Eichel won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 and added this: “It means the world. You’re representing your country. This is huge. It’s the biggest game I’ve played in in quite some time, maybe ever.”

The United States lost to Sweden 2-1 on Monday night, but the Americans already had made the championship game and were preparing for it. They rested goalie Connor Hellebuyck, defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and forwards Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk. Forward Brady Tkachuk left with an injury as a precaution.

“I’m not a doctor,” U.S. center Jack Hughes said. “I’m sure a lot of those guys will be playing on Thursday. Guys are hungry for this game and really excited.”

Who isn’t?

“I think you’re going to see two really evenly matched teams go at it,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said. “The city of Boston will be treated to something special, I think, on Thursday.”

Canada has won nine of the 13 best-on-best tournaments ever played, including five of the past six and the past three in a row. Rogers posted ads all over Montreal featuring star center Connor McDavid and a message: “NOTRE ÉQUIPE. NOTRE SPORT.” English translation: “OUR TEAM. OUR GAME.”

The United States has won one best-on-best tournament, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, defeating Canada 2-1 in a best-of-3 final. Matthew Tkachuk said the Americans wanted to send their own message when they picked three fights with the Canadians in the first nine seconds Saturday: “It’s our time right now.”

“I didn’t hear him say that,” Canada goalie Jordan Binnington said. “But he’s trying to make some noise, which he likes to do, and we’re just going to stick to our job here and focus on one game at a time, one period at a time.”

The United States failed to defeat Canada in the gold-medal game of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, but hockey has been growing in the United States. Here, in the first best-on-best tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto, the Americans have the talent and depth to compete with the Canadians.

They showed it Saturday and want to show it again Thursday. The Canadians want to restore what they feel is the rightful order, and they will have Cale Makar, one of the best defensemen in the NHL, who sat out with an illness Saturday.

“We’d love to play them again,” Canada center Nathan MacKinnon said. “We feel like we could beat those guys, and we plan on playing a little better Thursday.”

The Americans are planning on that too.

“They’re a heck of a hockey team, and it was such a great game Saturday, and we’re going to have to match that compete level and be ready for those guys,” U.S. forward Dylan Larkin said. “They’re going to be extremely hungry, and they don’t want to lose two to us, and they want to win as well, so it’s going to be a competitive hockey game. I think there will be some nerves, but I hope it’s that level that it was in Montreal.”

Finland coach Antti Pennanen was asked for the key to the championship game. He might have thought he was asked for the favorite. He said it was hard to say, because both teams are so good.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe it’s USA.”

Is Canada the underdog? Cooper said he doesn’t care what others think. The Canadians would have wanted to win no matter the opponent, though the opponent adds drama.

“We came here for this purpose, and now it’s win one more game,” he said. “It just happens to be against the team that beat us after the fireworks that went off on Saturday night, so I think it should be a pretty good made-for-TV event.”

Stay tuned.

“That first game was such a great hockey game,” U.S. coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think it’s great for hockey that there’s an opportunity for these two teams to meet again. Obviously, both teams have star power all around the lineup. It was a very competitive hockey game the first game. I would anticipate the next one will be every bit as competitive, if not more.”