Tkachuk brothers lead American rout of Finland at 4 Nations Face-Off
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk each score twice in 6-1 victory
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk each scored twice as the United States thumped Finland 6-1 in the countries' 4 Nations Face-Off opener Thursday in Montreal.
Matt Boldy and Jake Guentzel also added a goal and an assist each for the Americans, who got 20 saves from Connor Hellebuyck. Zach Werenski chipped in three assists, while Jack Eichel had two of his own.
Matthew Tkachuk also registered an assist for a three-point night.
Henri Jokiharju replied for the Finns. Juuse Saros stopped 26 shots.
Canada defeated Sweden 4-3 in overtime in Wednesday's curtain-raiser at the round-robin tournament that's serving as an appetizer ahead of the NHL's return to the Olympics in 2026.
The U.S. tops the standings with three points with the convincing regulation win followed by Canada (two), Sweden (one) and Finland (zero).
The Canadians and Americans will meet Saturday night after the Swedes and Finns play a matinee. The showcase then shifts to Boston for two games Monday before the final Feb. 20.
WATCH | Tkachuk brothers shine in win over Finland:
Americans pull away in 3rd period
After his younger brother scored in the first period, Matthew Tkachuk put the U.S. up 3-1 on a power play 15 seconds into the third on a shot Saros should have stopped.
Guentzel then fired home the American's next effort just 11 seconds after that before Brady Tkachuk buried his second of the night at exactly three minutes to put the game to bed.
The Finns opened Thursday's scoring at 7:31 of the first when Jokiharju floated a knuckling shot that fooled Hellebuyck.
Brock Nelson hit the post before that breakthrough and Auston Matthews rattled the crossbar after the Americans fell behind, but Brady Tkachuk banked a shot in off Saros at 10:21.
The Finnish goaltender had to be sharp again later in the period when he stopped Noah Hanifin on a breakaway coming out of the penalty box.
Hellebuyck then had to be sharp on an Erik Haula break midway through the second.
Boldy put the U.S. up 2-1 with 2:56 left in the period when he tipped home a point shot off the stick of Minnesota Wild teammate Brock Faber before the floodgates opened in the third.
'The Star-Spangled Banner' gets booed
A number of fans in attendance booed the American national anthem.
The Bell Centre crowd also loudly jeered when the U.S. team hit the ice ahead of puck drop and during player introductions.
The arena's public address announcer asked spectators to respect both anthems immediately before Alexandre Sylvestre started singing, but many chose to ignore the request.
"That's really not something that we can control," U.S. head coach Mike Sullivan said after the game. "We just want to play hockey. We want to compete. We want to represent our nation in the right way."
American supporters in attendance then started a "U-S-A! U-S-A!" chant just before puck drop only to be drowned out.
Fans at NHL games in Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver also booed "The Star-Spangled Banner" in recent weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump announced potentially crippling tariffs — a 30-day reprieve was negotiated Feb. 3 — and continues to muse about making America's northern neighbour its 51st state.
Despite the blanket tariff pause on goods entering from Canada, Trump slapped 25 per cent duties on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. on Monday, including Canadian products.
WATCH | Canada, U.S. players focused on hockey despite tariff tensions:
The 4 Nations represents the closest men's hockey has come to a best-on-best event since the 2016 World Cup. The NHL went to five straight Olympics between 1998 and 2014 before skipping the 2018 Games for financial reasons and cancelling plans in 2022 because of COVID-19 concerns.
Russia isn't part of this tournament because of its ongoing war in Ukraine, while reigning world champion Czechia is also on the outside looking in thanks to a compressed competition window in the middle of the NHL schedule.
