Is This The Best Hockey Since 2016? - This Week in CanucksLand

Before we get into the article, the Four Nations are underway! If you want to rep your home country and support me at the same time, use the link below!

https://fanatics.93n6tx.net/BnzeXJ

Now lets get into this week in CanadaLand.

This week saw two games for team Canada the first one was against Sweden in a Game that saw Canada come in hot and off a powerplay goal by Mackinnon set up by Crosby showing the full power of the Canadians and they would get a second in the when Point would send one over to Marchand on a 2 on 1 to take a 2-0 lead. Stone would add one after Sweden got their first. Sweden would unfortunately tie the game in the third sending the game to overtime. In a great 3 on 3 overtime Mitch Marner would fly in and rip it home to take a 4-3 win. Overall, I liked the first 20 minutes for Canada, but they need to stay hot through the last 40 minutes of the game.

Game 2 was the big one against the USA the game opened with three fights in the first 9 seconds later in the first Mcdavid would open the scoring with a beautiful backhand over Hellebuyck. USA would end up tying the game and taking the lead in the second. The lead would stay 2-1 until Guentzel would put home a empty netter and seal the game for USA 3-1. Same thing here with Canada they had a great first 20 minutes but after that they slowed down.

Before we get to what team Canada needs to do let’s look at the Canucks who are playing in the Tournament. Pettersson has zero points though the first two games but has been noticeable and has still been great in his own zone and has had some chances, but he’s really been the same as he’s been in Vancouver this year. Kevin Lankinen didn’t play the first game for Finland, but he did start the second game against Sweden and looked great he did give up 3 goals but that’s fine as its Sweden’s best players. He ended up leading Finland to an overtime win against their archrivals. Both Canucks have looked good especially Lankinen.

Now after the two games what does Canada need to do to win against Finland and in the Final if they make it. After the first two games on thing has been noticeable and its the tempo. They need to keep their pace through the whole game because they’ve been coming out hot and getting a early lead and that’s perfect but as soon as the puck drops in the second they slow down and let the other team get back into the game like we saw with Sweden tying the game and USA overtaking Canada and winning the game. The second thing they need to do is open the middle of the ice. The game against the USA they shut down the slot and didn’t allow Mackinnon and Mcdavid to attack there. They also shut down the passing lanes well Canada was trying to make that last pass, but they were missing or getting shut down. They need to find a way to get into open ice and to open the ice in the middle to get shots from the danger areas.

In conclusion, two great games that were the best hockey I’ve seen in a decade, but Canada has some things they need to fix so they can take the rest of the tournament. The two Canucks are having solid tournaments with Pettersson and Lankinen both being good assets for their teams. Next week we’ll cover the rest of Canada’s games and the one Canucks game as they come out of the break and face Vegas on Saturday. See you guys next time on this week in CanucksLand.