MONTREAL — Matthew Tkachuk didn’t play for the final 12:36 of Team USA’s 3-1 win over Canada Saturday night at Bell Centre, but the Panthers forward assured he was fine.
“No, no concern at all,” said Tkachuk, who along with his brother Brady have been the heart and soul of Team USA. “Just going to enjoy this win tonight. Other than Game 7 last year, this has been the highlight of my hockey career. I’m just going to enjoy it with the guys.
“We have such a fun group in there, and it’s going to be a fun plane ride tonight. Lots of laughs. We’re having a lot of fun with those guys.”
Head coach Mike Sullivan, however, pumped the brakes on Tkachuk’s proclamation.
“Matthew is out with a lower-body injury right now,” the American bench boss said. “He’s being evaluated by our doctors. That’s all I can offer you. We’ll make decisions that we think is best for Matthew and we think is best for our team. Right now I don’t have a lot of information to go on so it’s hard for me to give you more.”
The United States has one more round-robin contest to go on Monday against Sweden, before the final on Thursday in Boston.
It’s likely that Sullivan and the rest of his staff will consider resting Tkachuk, which would bring Rangers forward Chris Kreider into the lineup.
Kreider was a healthy scratch for Team USA for the second straight game on Saturday night.
“It’s hard, those are not easy conversations,” Sullivan said in the morning. “Obviously, we have to make lineup decisions. Every player that’s part of this team is an elite player. And they’re all the go-to guys on their respective teams in the NHL. My approach with him has been, we’ve had honest conversations with him from Day 1. They understand what the circumstance is.
“What I will tell you is both Chris and [Jake Sanderson] have been great. They’re great teammates, they’re great people, they know it’s an honor to be part of this whole experience. They’re message to me was, ‘We’re ready when you ask us.’”
The United States stuck with the lineup changes that helped them dominate the third period of their 4 Nations tournament-opening win over Finland.
After putting on a show in the first game, Brady and Matthew Tkachuk remained on the wings of Jack Eichel.
Jake Guentzel, Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes remained intact, while J.T. Miller switched to the left wing of Dylan Larkin and Matt Boldy.
The fourth line featured Brock Nelson, Vincent Trocheck and Kyle Connor.
While Zach Werenski remained on the left of Charlie McAvoy as the top defense pairings, Adam Fox went from skating with Jacob Slavin to Noah Hanifin. Slavin is now on the left of the third pair next to Brock Faber.
“I think it’s a little different, you’re more so trying to just communicate the different system,” Fox said of his process adjusting to a new defense partner. “Everyone’s playing this system that Sully’s got, a little different than what their teams do. But everyone on that back end is a great player, so it’s really just communication that is the number one thing.”
Despite starting the first game on Team USA’s top power-play unit, Fox was replaced by Werenski during the Finland game. He is now on the second unit.
Former Ranger Kaapo Kakko made his tournament debut for Finland in their win over Sweden on Saturday.
The Seattle forward replaced Joel Armia and skated on the right wing of the fourth line next to Teuvo Teravainen and Erik Haula.
“Kakko, he has played good games lately, so I hope he can win the battles and fresh legs,” Finland coach Antti Pennanen said. “Armia, he’s really OK, but a couple of penalties, so that’s why he’s out.”
