Auston Matthews vs Team Canada: -(Image Source: X@usahockey)
Auston Matthews and Team USA earned a massive 3-1 victory over their bitter rivals from Canada on Saturday night.
The anticipation for the game was unprecedented, and it didn’t disappoint. Three fights in the first minute of the game had the arena buzzing. Even after Connor McDavid scored a highlight reel goal, the US didn’t back down. Goals from Jake Guentzel and Dylan Larkin helped the Americans prevail in comeback fashion.
Despite clinching a berth in the finals with the win over Team Canada, the American captain is not getting ahead of himself.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Matthews said. ” It’s only two games. Two big wins, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. It was pretty electric. I mean, it was probably one of the best atmospheres I’ve been a part of. A lot of fun. It feels a lot better when you come out with the win, but from the start, the drop of the puck, it was electric in here.”
“We’re here,” He added. “We’re here to compete. We’re here to win. We want to win this thing. That’s about it. The bottom line is we’re here to win.”
Team USA will finish their round-robin play against Team Sweden on Monday night on home soil in Boston. Canada, Sweden and Finland all remain in contention to make the Finals and face the US.
Auston Matthews has yet to score at the 4 Nations
Despite the team’s perfect record, Auston Matthews has gone scoreless through two games at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Matthews has recorded one point (one assist) and two shots on goal, while playing just under 20 minutes a night through two games. While his production hasn’t stood out, the 27-year-old has played a tremendous two-way game for Team USA. He’s been hard on pucks, forechecking and backchecking at both ends of the rink.
The fact that the Americans are 2-0-0-0 (six points) without any goals from the best goal scorer in the world is a scary thought for the three other nations. Auston Matthews will continue to play a pivotal role as the tournament progresses.
Team USA will battle against Team Sweden on Monday night as the tournament shifts to Boston. The puck drops at 8 p.m. EST at TD Garden.