Canada stumbled through a win over a game Swedish squad, while the Americans feasted on Finland's broken so-called number one goalie. Barring a meeting of these teams in the final, this is the most important match of the tournament.
I'm so glad that members of Team USA feel comfortable enough to voice their displeasure about Canadian fans booing their national anthem. It's helpful, honestly. Fascism is a movement that absolutely thrives on two ingredients: ignorance and indifference. And for these guys to not get why Canadians are voicing their displeasure means it's either column a, column b, or some mix of both.
At the end of the day, should we really be surprised that wealthy American athletes are going to take that position? It's almost a certainty that they, to a man, voted for the chaos that is happening in America right now, albeit unintentionally. They, like so many others, were doing it for what they saw as reasons that mattered to them, and the rest, well... it doesn't affect them so, what are you going to do?
This is where I would say that it absolutely sucks that we have this distraction looming over the game, taking away from what should have been a fun battle against two of the world's hockey powers. Instead, politics have very much saturated this tournament, making the game far more intense and meaningful to fans this side of the border. As someone who was alive and watched the 72 Summit Series against the Soviets, there is definitely a feeling of deja-vu. That series was about so much more than hockey, and I encourage you to revisit the documentaries and the whole games of that epic 8 game series for yourself, because if you're not old enough to remember, recent events will fill in a world of context you may not have been able to glean previously.
As far as the other side, I won't be surprised to see some try to counter with invoking the Miracle On Ice at the games in Lake Placid. Just one problem with the analogy here: In this scenario, you're the Soviets.
I'd like to be able to just write off the Americans, but let's face it, this is a squad of some of the best players in the NHL. Speed, skill, goaltending, and they've lost the best defenceman in the NHL and it doesn't even seem to register with them. Canada will have their work cut out for them tonight, and having already lost Shea Theodore to injury, they're going to need more from these guys than we saw against the Swedes.
That was such a prototypical Canucks game, wasn't it? Lead established. Foot off the gas. Oh, no... it's tied in the 3rd? Thankfully, they were able to get a timely goal from Mitch Marner to secure a 2nd point, but they need to win today in order ensure a spot in the final. That means Connor McDavid will actually have to do more than give Sportsnet content of spectacular efforts that amounted to absolutely nothing, like we saw in Game One. Yes, Nathan MacKinnon scored a great power play goal, but the rest of his night, especially in OT seemed to be just a succession of plays where he tried to do it all himself rather than making the play that would result in a goal.
And for the love of god, if he is not absolutely lights out, this has to be the end of Jordan Binnington as Canada's number one in the crease. Yes, he came up big in OT, but that game doesn't get to the extra frame in the first place if he actually stops one of those goals. He looked very beatable, and the Americans could turn this into a laugher if Binnington isn't Canada's best player tonight.
And with Cale Makar missing practice yesterday due to illness, that could mean an already suspect Canadian defence is even worse. He did skate this morning, so hopefully that means he's good to go, but that is something to keep an eye on in tonight's game. If Makar can't go, Dallas Stars D Thomas Harley will be added to the lineup.
Meanwhile, in the early game this morning, Sweden and Finland will do battle as both teams look to bounce back from losses in their tournament openers. The big news for Finland is the Canucks' Kevin Lankinen will get the start against Elias Pettersson and the Swedes. Lankinen was the backup in the game against the USA, which saw starter Juuse Saros get lit the hell up in a 6-1 loss. You cannot expect me to believe that the Canucks didn't break Saros with that come from behind victory in the playoffs last year, and I am thrilled to see Lankinen get this well deserved shot to try and salvage their tournament against a tough Swedish squad.
Pettersson was fairly inconsequential in the game against Canada. A couple chances, but he wasn't really an impact maker. I would like to see him step up and get some of the confidence he's lost this past year or so. The Canucks season literally depends on him regaining his form moving forward.
LINEUPS
Courtesy of the ol nhl dot com thingy...
8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS
United States projected lineup
Brady Tkachuk -- Jack Eichel -- Matthew Tkachuk
Jake Guentzel -- Auston Matthews -- Jack Hughes
J.T. Miller -- Dylan Larkin -- Matt Boldy
Brock Nelson -- Vincent Trocheck -- Kyle Connor
Zach Werenski -- Charlie McAvoy
Noah Hanifin -- Adam Fox
Jaccob Slavin -- Brock Faber
Connor Hellebuyck
Jake Oettinger
Scratched: Chris Kreider, Jake Sanderson, Jeremy Swayman
Injured: None
Canada projected lineup
Sam Reinhart -- Connor McDavid -- Mitch Marner
Sidney Crosby -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mark Stone
Brandon Hagel -- Anthony Cirelli -- Brayden Point
Brad Marchand -- Sam Bennett -- Seth Jarvis
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Josh Morrissey -- Colton Parayko
Travis Sanheim -- Drew Doughty
Jordan Binnington
Adin Hill
Scratched: Travis Konecny, Samuel Montembeault
Injured: Shea Theodore (upper body)
So Travis Sanheim will slot into Theodore's place, and Makar remains a game time decision. No changes for the USA, as they roll with the adjustments they made after the first period against Finland.
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Enough talk. Time to shut them up.
Let's do this! Go Canada Go! Fuck you to the fascists!
