Team USA Dealing With Injuries Ahead of Four Nations Face-off Championship

Team USA found out yesterday they will get a rematch with Team Canada for the Four Nations Face-Off Championship. The game will be played Thursday at the TD Garden in Boston, MA at 8:00 PM. USA beat Canada on Saturday night 3-1 in one of the most-watched hockey games since the 2019 Stanley Cup. The game had 4.4 million viewers and peaked at 5.2 million viewers. Yesterday Canada beat Finland 5-3 to secure their spot in the Championship game. The USA sat players in their 2-1 loss to Sweden last night. With their spot in the Championship game secured they had some players dealing with issues and gave them a rest.

Following last night’s game there were more injuries. Matthew Tkachuk sat out after leaving Saturday’s game in the second period. Charlie McAvoy sat out last night as well with an upper-body injury. News came out that McAvoy was actually admitted to Mass General Hospital and an update was issued earlier. Auston Matthew was out also last night as a precaution, Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan later said he has an upper-body injury. Brady Tkachuk left the game after he crashed into the post and went to the room, he played three shifts and didn’t return. He was held out more so for precautionary reasons.

Sullivan said he didn’t have a full update but thought he would be good for Thursday. Finally, Vincent Trocheck went down the tunnel before the first period ended last night he did return and finished with 16 shifts and 10:48 TOI. The lone USA goal scored last night was by Chris Kreider just 35 seconds into the game. Kreider had been a healthy scratch and last night was his first game of the tournament.

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Matthew Tkachuk

Tkachuk on Saturday got the game started with a fight against Brandon Hagel. He has three points this tournament on two goals and an assist. He has two power-play goals and 14:29 TOI. In 52 games with Florida this season he has 57 points on 22 goals and 35 assists.

Charlie McAvoy

McAvoy on Saturday against Canada got burned early by Connor McDavid as he scored the first goal of the game to give Canada the 1-0 lead. Following that goal, he made sure to make his presence known every time he saw McDavid. The curiosity is did the injury occur on one of the hits, or what might be going on for the young Bruins defenseman? This tournament he hasn’t recorded a point but is a plus-one and has 19:36 TOI. In 50 games this season with the Bruins he has 23 points on seven goals and 16 assists.

Auston Matthews

Matthews, who was banged up, should play on Thursday. He has an assist so far in the tournament while playing 20:16 TOI and has a 62.9 face-off percentage. In 40 games this season, Matthews has 45 points on 20 goals and 25 assists.

Brady Tkachuk

Tkachuk followed up his brother’s fight on Saturday against Canada with a fight of his own against Sam Bennett. He has two goals in the Four Nations and is a plus-two. He has a 9:29 TOI and a 66.7 face-off percentage. In 56 games this season he has 44 points on 21 goals and 23 assists.

Vincent Trocheck

Trocheck hasn’t recorded a point yet and is a minus-one. He has an 11:34 TOI and a 53.9 face-off percentage. In 55 games this season he has 37 points on 17 goals and 20 assists.

Names To Watch

If the USA loses two of their forwards or two of their defensemen can’t go they can call someone to come replace them. Some names to watch are Clayton Keller, Alex DeBrincat, Jason Robertson, Cole Caufield, and Tage Thompson. On defense, some names to watch are Lane Hutson, Neal Pionk, John Carlson, and Seth Jones.