Local product J.T. Miller, recently traded to the New York Rangers, got in on the fun shortly after, making that three fights in the first nine seconds of game time.
“It kind of set up a heck of a game,” Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper. “When it was over, for 59 minutes, two teams battled each other as hard as they could.”
As Cooper went on to say, both teams have a “whole bunch of brilliant, skilled players,” but that doesn’t necessarily add up to a ton of offense.
“When you have this quality of players, and they all check, that’s why shots are 20-20. That’s why there’s no space,” Cooper said. “It goes back to caring. Guys are doing things that they probably don’t do in 82 games all the time. They’re used to putting the puck in the net and getting off, and maybe there’s a shortcut here and there in their game. But there wasn’t tonight. That’s why it’s tight checking, and the margin for error is razor-thin. But that’s the kind of hockey you get, and it’s very impressive.”
Someone who doesn’t need a whole lot of room to make plays is Jake Guentzel, as Penguins fans know from years of experience. He evened the score at 1-1 after Connor McDavid got on the board first, and later iced the win with an empty netter.
When Guentzel skated with the Stanley Cup hoisted over his head back in 2017 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Sullivan had been standing off to the side watching, grinning ear to ear as the rookie did his lap. "This kid's the real deal," Sullivan said that night, as he was mic’d up. "He's only going to get better. No stage is too big for him, either. He's the real deal.”
Sullivan echoed those comments last night, after yet another tremendous performance from Guentzel. “Jake, he’s a high-stakes player. He plays his very best when it means the most,” Sullivan said. “He thrives in these types of environments. He's such a smart hockey player. He plays on both sides of the puck. I'm not surprised at all.”
Sidney Crosby is someone else who elevates his game in these types of situations. Before last night, Canada hadn’t lost a game with Crosby in the lineup dating back to February of 2010, a 26-game win streak – and the captain will be looking to get them back in the win column tomorrow afternoon.
“I thought we competed hard,” Crosby said. “The speed, the intensity, it’s right up there with playoff hockey. That’s how it feels out there. It’s a lot of fun to be a part of that.
“Like we’ve said the whole time here, we’ve just got to keep getting better and learn from this one. We don’t have a lot of time to think about it, it’s a big one here coming up. We battled hard and have to find a way to go get a win."
Next up, as the tournament shifts to TD Garden, Boston:
Monday, Feb. 17
Canada vs. Finland, 1 PM; TNT, MAX
Sweden vs. United States, 8 PM; TNT, MAX
Thursday, Feb. 20
Championship game, 8 PM; ESPN, ESPN+
