Crosby, McDavid, MacKinnon pave Canada's road to 4 Nations final against United States

BOSTON -- For more than a decade, whenever it was all on the line for Canada, whenever a win-or-go home scenario was presented to them, whenever the country has fretted over potential hockey disappointment, it's been Sidney Crosby, always Sidney Crosby, who has risen to the occasion and come to the rescue.

"In our country," Canada coach Jon Cooper said, "Sid walks on water."

And now, he doesn't have to do all the heavy lifting anymore.

He has some help in Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, the next wave of Canadian generational players. He doesn't have to solely carry the load in the biggest games, the biggest moments, on the biggest stages.

Such was the case in Canada's 5-3 win against Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Monday. Anything less than a regulation win against the always-pesky Finns meant Canada's hopes to earn a spot in the tournament final against the rival United States on Thursday would no longer be in their hands. Their fate would be determined by the outcome of the U.S.-Sweden game that night.

Canada's three-headed monster wouldn't let it get that far.

Less than five minutes into the game, McDavid and MacKinnon made a statement that anything short of a return date against the U.S., who defeated them 3-1 on home soil less than 48 hours earlier, was unacceptable. They scored in a span of 36 seconds to put Canada ahead 2-0, McDavid at 4:13 and MacKinnon at 4:59.

Tone set. Canada built a 4-0 lead by early in the second period before a late rally in the third pulled the relentless Finns to within a goal.

Those comeback hopes were squashed when Crosby sealed the deal with an empty-net goal at 19:04.

"We talked about it beforehand," Canada defenseman Cale Makar said. "We wanted to get the big start, and I felt like we were buzzing right off the top. Everybody's moving. And when this team moves their legs hard to it's hard to beat."

In the process, the message was sent. Canada's big three are alive and well, firing on all cylinders for the final.

"That's huge," Crosby said of McDavid and MacKinnon. "I mean, they set the tone right away (today). That's what you need. Big plays from big time players.

"They stepped up to get us the lead, get us a start like that, get our feet under us."

In the end, they combined for four goals and six points. MacKinnon scored twice. McDavid and Crosby each had a goal and an assist.

Canada's other goal came from Brayden Point, who replaced Mitch Marner on a line with McDavid and Mark Stone.

"Connor's the best player in the world," Point said. "It's exciting when you get a chance to play with him.

"When you see [McDavid, MacKinnon and Crosby] going like that, it makes the rest of us want to elevate our games. To see those guys come out like that and finish early was obviously big for us, and it helps elevate our whole group. And they were great again tonight."

Next stop: The 4 Nations championship game against the United States at TD Garden on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, Disney+, SN, TVAS).

In the loss Saturday, McDavid scored Canada's only goal, producing the type of breakaway, highlight-reel moment that seems commonplace for him. He was also crushed twice by U.S. defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who like many of his teammates successfully carried out the physical game plan against Canada's top players. MacKinnon seemed frustrated at times, repeatedly smothered in his attempts to find open ice.

As for Crosby, that loss, any loss, in a Canadian jersey, hadn't happened in 15 years. They had not lost to the U.S. in best-on-best competition since the preliminary round of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics on Feb. 21, 2010, going 26-0 with Crosby in the lineup in tournament play since that defeat.

On Monday, a new winning streak was started for Crosby and Canada. Now comes the chance for Canada's Big Three to lead their team's goal of redemption with everything on the line.

"The last thing we wanted to do was to go home today or tomorrow, whatever," MacKinnon said. "Whoever we were playing in the finals, obviously it'll be the Americans, we'd love to play them again.

"We feel we can beat those guys. And we plan on playing a little better Thursday,"

Especially when he, Crosby and McDavid lead the way like they did against the Finns.