Team USA falls to Sweden; still set to face Canada in 4 Nations Face-Off final
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Team USA lost its first game in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Monday night, falling to Sweden, 2-1, at the TD Garden in Boston.
However, despite the blemish on the record, they will still be playing in the championship game on Thursday night in the same arena against Canada, who they defeated, 3-1, on Saturday.
Team USA wasn’t at full strength in this matchup, as Matthew Tkachuk was absent from the bench with a lower-body injury. Auston Matthews also took the night off to battle an illness.
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Team Sweden forward Adrian Kempe (10) and Team USA defenseman Zach Werenski (8) battle for the puck in front of goalie Jake Ottinger (30) during the second in a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)
Also, his brother, Brady, was injured early in the first period during an attack in Sweden’s zone, which is worth monitoring heading into that title game against Canada.
Still, it was the U.S. getting on the board first thanks to Chris Kreider, the New York Rangers star, who scored his first goal of the tournament.
Kreider hadn’t played yet in the tournament, but was needed with the number of forwards out. And he wasted no time getting involved, scoring before one minute ticked off the first period clock.
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Zach Werenski had gotten a pass from Jack Eichel and took a shot on net that was saved by Samuel Ersson, but the deflection went right to Kreider’s stick. Kreider didn’t waste any time, one-timing the deflection to find the back of the net.
But Sweden made