Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon must step up to lead Team Canada against Finland in their final round-robin game at the 4 Nations Face-Off final. With a win, the Canadian side punches a ticket to the final and a rematch against the United States.
A loss would mean the end of the line for Canada, a side that was favored to at least reach the final. We could dissect the reasons why Canada lost against the Americans. But for the sake of simplicity, we can say that the United States was just better on Saturday night.
The Americans played a tight-checking game while taking advantage of their opportunities. Dylan Larkin’s goal was an example of how Team USA capitalized on one fatal mistake. That mistake was enough for the US to skate away with three points.
So, that brings our attention to Monday afternoon’s tilt between Canada and Finland. Finland bounced back with a big overtime win against Sweden. That situation set up a do-or-die game for Canada. Canada must win on Monday, and it will have to be Nathan MacKinnon who leads the way.
The reasoning here is simple: The Finns will deploy Aleksander Barkov against Connor McDavid. Finland knows that if they don’t stop McDavid, he will run amok, potentially carving them up like Thanksgiving Turkey.
That leaves the door open for Nathan MacKinnon to do his thing. While everyone in the Finnish lineup will what everything they can to stop MacKinnon, as well, he’ll likely get many more opportunities to become the difference-maker.
If he does, MacKinnon, along with Sidney Crosby and Mark Stone, could become a lethal combination that puts Canada into the Final against its North American archrivals. Otherwise, we could have a surprising Team Finland heading to the final.