BOSTON — With apologies to Finland and Sweden, this is the rematch the hockey world wanted and it is the rematch the fans deserve.
Team USA already beat Canada once in this tournament, but without doing so a second time, that rousing 3-1 win in Montreal will be relegated to historical trivia, same as the American win over Canada in the group stage of the 2010 Olympics.
It is championship or bust for both teams in this 4 Nations final.
The Post’s Ethan Sears breaks down the biggest questions that will decide USA-Canada II.
How healthy is the United States?
We know that Charlie McAvoy, who played 19:27 and was one of Team USA’s best players in victory over Canada in Montreal, will not be in on Thursday.
We think — barring a last-minute change — that the Americans will have to play Jake Sanderson in his place as opposed to Quinn Hughes, who isn’t allowed to join Team USA unless there is another injury.
That’s a blow.
And, although the Tkachuk brothers, Vincent Trocheck and Auston Matthews all look likely to play, it’s not clear how hurt they are or how effective they’ll be.
Brady Tkachuk didn’t practice Wednesday; the others in that group did.
To state the obvious, both Tkachuks have been heart-and-soul players for Team USA in this tournament, bringing identity and a physical edge to the group.
It’s a real game-changer if they’re not at full effectiveness. Ditto for Matthews, one of Team USA’s best goal scorers (albeit one who hasn’t impacted things a ton) and Trocheck, who has quietly been great in a bottom-six role.
Team USA’s edge in goal
This was a huge difference in the initial matchup.
Connor Hellebuyck has been — by leaps and bounds — the best goaltender in this tournament, but never more than against Canada.
He was excellent in his movements, never lost control of the net and looked completely unflappable during the third period, when Team USA was holding onto a 2-1 lead and barely possessed the puck.
As for Jordan Binnington, some of the criticism directed toward the Blues netminder has been over the top — he’s been mostly good in this tournament and wasn’t the reason Canada lost to Team USA in the round-robin.
But it’s also true that mostly good isn’t good enough on a stage like this, and that Binnington should have stopped Jake Guentzel’s 1-1 goal in the first period of that game.
If Canada has nerves about their situation in goal, it’s hard to argue those are unfounded.
Can Team USA slow down Canada’s superstars again?
Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby were minus-1, minus-1 and minus-2 in the initial game between these teams.
McDavid scored a wonder goal 5:31 into the first and that was pretty much it for any of the trio, with Crosby playing his worst game of the event and committing the turnover that led to Dylan Larkin’s go-ahead goal.
On a directly related note, Team Canada’s power play was also 0-for-2 Saturday.
Especially without McAvoy — whose body check of McDavid in the first was a tone-setter — in the fold, it’s an open question whether Team USA can replicate that.
These are three of the most-skilled players in the world, and on some level, it’s impossible to completely stop them; McDavid scored on Saturday night and that was in a relatively quiet game for him.
What difference does Cale Makar make for Canada?
Who knows how healthy Makar really is after missing the initial game between these two teams with reported illness, but after Canada needed Thomas Harley to step in with zero practice time for the first game against Team USA, it’s a relief to have Makar back.
Harley played well in that game, but there’s just no replicating what Makar — arguably the best defenseman in the world and, as long as Quinn Hughes is unavailable, certainly the best in this tournament — can bring.
Canada’s power play will look a lot different with No. 8 quarterbacking it, and so will everything the Canadians do at five-on-five.
The addition of Makar for Canada, combined with the subtraction of McAvoy for Team USA, is an equation that plays out pretty well for Team Canada.
Can Team USA establish a physical edge for a second straight game?
At an educated guess, there probably won’t be three fights in nine seconds to start this one. (Of course, just about everyone would have made the same prediction last time).
But it wasn’t just the fights that set a winning tone for the Americans on Saturday.
It was the relentless physicality with which they played for all 60 minutes, and especially early on, with crushing hits on McDavid and Drew Doughty.
Dropping the gloves in a championship game probably isn’t advisable, but replicating that tone is an absolute necessity.
That is how Team USA silenced the Montreal crowd, took the life out of Team Canada and pulled off a win last time.
That is their path to doing so again, this time in front of a home crowd.
