BROSSARD, Quebec (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck is set to start in net for the United States in its opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off against Finland on Thursday night.
USA Hockey said Wednesday that the Winnipeg Jets goaltender would get the nod a few minutes after coach Mike Sullivan foreshadowed an announcement. The decision is not surprising given that Hellebuyck has been the best player at the position in the NHL this season and is on track to win the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie for the third time.
“He’s very focused, he’s very driven and obviously the results speak for themselves,” U.S. forward Chris Kreider said. “He’s just so fundamentally sound in net. There’s not a lot to shoot at. When you think you have something, it gets taken away really quickly. All three of our goalies are incredible.”
Top center Jack Eichel in the leadup to the tournament called the U.S. talent in net with Hellebuyck, Dallas' Jake Oettinger and Boston's Jeremy Swayman making the decision tough on coaches “a good problem to have.” It really didn't seem like a difficult choice given how dominant Hellebuyck has been for the past few months.
Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk faced Hellebuyck and the Jets a lot when the pandemic spurred the creation of an all-Canadian division for the shortened 2021 season. He's happier to be playing with him for the U.S. than against him.
“They were never fun games when we had to play them,” Tkachuk said. "He’s just a rock star back there. He’s an unbelievable player, and you can just tell how comfortable and confident he is.”
Finland coach Antti Pennanen said Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators is his starter, citing the 29-year-old's experience and grit.
“He’s a really good goalie, and of course we have three good goalies and it wasn’t an easy call,” Pennanen said. “But tomorrow we go with Juuse.”
Finland's 5 forward power play
One of hockey's shifts in recent years has been more teams using four forwards and one defenseman on the ice for the power play, rather than three and two. Finland after losing top defenseman Miro Heiskanen to injury is going with five forwards on its top unit, counting on captain Aleksander Barkov — unquestionably the best defensive center in the league — to play the point position that would have been Heiskanen's spot.
“We needed to rethink our power-play plans, and now Aleksander Barkov, he is at the blue line and he has played that role before, so it’s not a new situation for him,” Pennanen said. “He is one of the best players on this planet at the moment, and he is playing with good guys around him — lots of good players, so I think it’s going to be a good power play.”
Sebastian Aho said he thinks Barkov is good enough to play defense in the NHL, and that has he and his teammates confident in this approach.
“That’s not a common thing, but obviously we have Barkov on the blue line there who’s a couple time Selke winner,” forward Roope Hintz said. “It’s going to be interesting to see in the game.”
Crosby good to go
Sidney Crosby missed Pittsburgh's past two games because of injury, but the Penguins and Canada left it up to their captain to decide whether he wanted to play in the 4 Nations. Even if he's not fully healthy, Crosby declared Wednesday morning he was good to go.
“I think it’s probably going to be something that I’ll get a better idea of once I get out there in the game as far as what I can do,” Crosby said before Canada opened against Sweden. “But I feel really good, really confident going into it. That’s the biggest part. I don’t really have a lot of apprehensions or anything like that, so mentally I feel really good about it.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
