United States not going to 'let off the gas' against Sweden at 4 Nations

BOSTON -- It would be impossible for the emotional impact to be as great. It would be impossible to replicate the conditions of the United States vs. Canada at Bell Centre in Montreal on a Saturday night. It would be impossible to recreate three fights in nine seconds, to recreate a game that means as much to the U.S. as its last one did.

But that doesn’t mean the U.S. is looking past Sweden. It doesn’t make the game any less crucial for the Americans, even though they’ve already punched their ticket to the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off at TD Garden on Thursday.

This one still matters.

So, on Monday at TD Garden, when the U.S. faces Sweden (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS), the U.S. will be ready.

“I don’t think it changes the way we approach it,” forward Kyle Connor said. “You never want to let off the gas in any sense. It gives us a chance to work on the game knowing our schedule going forward.

“We’re thrilled that we’re able to secure that spot. At the same time, I think that same intensity is going to come. It’s such a short tournament and not a lot of games here, so we’ve got to work on our game as much as we can just to be able to get ready for the championship.”

This is, after all, a team that has only played two games together, a team that has not had the chance to refine its game and become what it believes it ultimately can.

But Monday is also another chance to play for one's country, something all of these players have been waiting so long to do.

“The emotional impact might not be there, but at the same time, you’ve got 20 guys wearing a USA sweater who are proud to put that jersey on and want to go out there and do the best that they can,” defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “We’re all competitive, we all want to win, so it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side necessarily, but I think once you go out there and if you start taking it easy, that’s when mistakes happen, that’s when injuries might happen. So, you go out there and you play your game.”

It's possible the U.S. might make some changes to its lineup, with forward Matthew Tkachuk’s status up in the air -- coach Mike Sullivan said he was still being evaluated on Sunday -- and the potential for a change in goal.

Mostly, though, the team still needs to get to know each other on the ice, still needs to work out any kinks or miscommunications or hiccups that might be there.

They need to, as Sullivan said, improve as a team, to add more detail and better execution.

“You want to continue to iron out those details,” Slavin said. “It’s such a short tournament that you don’t have a ton of time to work at it, so you take any opportunity that you can to work on it. There’s definitely things that we can continue to get better at, continue to dial in. You’ve got a lot of players coming in from so many different teams, different habits and tendencies. Any chance you can have to hone in your game is good for us.”

The way they look at it, nothing changes for them.

When asked how they will approach the game against Sweden, forward Vincent Trocheck said, “Same way we approached Canada last night."

“I don’t think we make any changes,” he continued. “We’re just trying to get better. It’s a very quick tournament and you have to make a lot of adjustments. We’re all trying to get used to each other at the same time. We know we have two games left, and the championship game is going to be a very tough one, so we’re trying to go into tomorrow and make ourselves better.”

Plus they’re having fun. Why would they stop? Why would they alter what has been working for them as a team?

They have the chance to make a statement, to go undefeated in the 4 Nations Face-Off, to show just how much the U.S. has arrived, with perhaps the country's greatest generation taking shape.

“We all know what this tournament is,” Connor said. “You only have four games … there’s two left. Yeah, one’s the championship, one doesn’t really matter, but it matters. It’s the first time we’re seeing Sweden. We want to set the tone. We want to show them what we’re all about. I don’t think there’s going to be a drop-off of energy at any point.”