4 Nations final keys to victory: How USA can beat Canada again

It's hard to think of a hockey game in the last 10 years that is more anticipated than Thursday night's 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between the United States and Canada at TD Garden.

The two best teams in the world will play for an international best-on-best title. How important is this game to the players?

"It means the world. You're representing your country. This is huge, it's the biggest game I've played in quite some time, maybe ever," American center Jack Eichel said after his team's loss to Sweden on Monday. "I'm really looking forward to it. I think everyone in the room is looking forward to it. It's what we wanted, right?"

"Stanley Cup, maybe Game 7 aside, this is probably the biggest game that we've all played up until this point," U.S. forward Matthew Tkachuk told the TNT broadcast during USA-Sweden. "We have 23 guys who will do absolutely everything they can for this game on Thursday."

Those are two former Stanley Cup winners saying this matchup will be one of the most important games they've ever played.

The United States hasn't beaten Canada in a best-on-best tournament final/series since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Eichel, Tkachuk, and many of their teammates hadn't been born yet when that competition took place.

The Americans should be plenty confident in their ability to beat Canada after defeating their rivals 3-1 in the round robin stage in Montreal last week. Repeating that performance will be a tough challenge, though.

How can Team USA win this tournament and lift the trophy Thursday in Boston? Here are three keys to victory:

Connor Hellebuyck stands on his head

Hellebuyck is the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy, and he has been the best goalie at this tournament by far.

His best performance came against Canada in the round robin stage. Hellebuyck made 25 saves on 26 shots, including stops on 10 of Canada's 11 high-danger scoring chances. He saved 2.79 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck, which is quite impressive.

Canada did have plenty of good looks at the net -- 30 scoring chances in total -- but Hellebuyck thwarted nearly every one. His play early in the game when Canada had a 1-0 lead and was playing with enormous energy helped calm the Americans and allow them to find their footing.

Team USA will need a similar -- if not better -- performance from Hellebuyck in the title game.

The Canadians are coming off their best game -- a 5-3 win over Finland in the final round robin matchup -- and will get superstar defenseman Cale Makar back in the lineup. Makar -- who leads all NHL defensemen with 22 goals and 63 points -- missed the first USA-Canada matchup due to illness.

Canada has enough offensive firepower to beat the United States even if its goalie, Jordan Binnington, doesn't play lights out and gives up a couple of goals. The U.S. doesn't have that same scoring depth, especially with a couple key players battling injuries.

Hellebuyck has to be great on Thursday, and based on the success he's had in international competition so far, there's a good chance he delivers. The Winnipeg Jets goalie is 11-1-0 with a .942 save percentage and a 1.50 GAA when playing for the United States in his career.

Survive Canada's early surge

The Canadians have come out flying in the first period of all three games at this tournament so far.

They scored just 56 seconds into the first game against Sweden and led 2-0 after one period. They scored first against the United States, and they dominated Finland in the first 20 minutes on Monday with three first-period goals, including two in the first five minutes.

Meanwhile, the United States has given up the first goal in two of its three games so far. And in the one game the Americans scored first, they lost 2-1 to Sweden.

The TD Garden crowd will be absolutely buzzing to start Thursday's game. The Americans shouldn't have any issues early on in the intensity department. The worst-case scenario for Team USA is Canada jumping out to another early lead and taking the crowd out of the game.

Play physical and limit Canada's speed

The United States won the first matchup in Montreal in part because it did such a good job being physical, forechecking hard, finishing checks, blocking shots, taking away time and space and making Canada earn every single scoring chance. The Americans also dished out 34 hits and initiated three fights.

This gameplan descibed above was effective in neutralizing the Canadians' speed and skill advantage. As a result, Canada scored only one goal, compared to nine goals scored in its other two round robin games combined.

Duplicating that feat could be a difficult task for the Americans based on injuries to key players.

Matthew and Brady Tkachuk both played key roles in setting a physical tone during the first matchup. But both of them have missed time in this tournament due to injuries. Matthew Tkachuk didn't play the last 12:36 of the first Canada showdown and sat out Monday's loss versus Sweden due to a lower body injury. Brady Tkachuk missed the last two periods against Sweden after crashing into the post.

Veteran defenseman Charlie McAvoy played a pivotal role for the Americans in that 3-1 win, too. He tallied five hits, including a bone-crushing check on Connor McDavid that was a turning point in the game. McAvoy also played very well defensively alongside Zach Werenski. But McAvoy, who suffered an upper body injury versus Finland and later developed an infection, won't play in the championship game.

The return of Makar to Canada's blue line should also help the visiting team escape the United States' forecheck and speed up the transition game.

The United States knows how to beat Canada -- whether it can execute the game plan if top players are less than 100 percent healthy remains to be seen.