Solid day on the 4 Nations on Monday for me, going 6-2 to win 2.53 units. Tonight the tournament concludes with the highly anticipated USA vs. Canada Championship game. Let’s win! USA! USA! USA!
USA vs. Canada (8:00)
This is what we’ve all been waiting for in this tournament, a winner take all, Game 7 feel of USA vs. Canada to win the 4 Nations tournament. The first game between these teams on Saturday in round robin play was electric, with three fights in the first nine seconds with Matthew Tkachuk fighting Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, his brother Brady fighting Matthew’s Florida teammate Sam Bennett, and then a couple seconds later J.T. Miller fighting Colton Parayko. Following the fireworks to start, the game ended up being a very close battle. After Connor McDavid opened the scoring for Canada 5:31 into the game, Connor Hellebuyck and the USA defense shut them down the rest of the game. Team USA lead 2-1 with everyone on the end of their seats until Jake Guentzel capped off the game with an empty netter with 1:19 left on the way to a 3-1 Team USA win. That game was the first time in 27 games over the course of 15 years that Team Canada lost a game with Sidney Crosby in the lineup. In their other games of round robin play, Team USA dominated the third period against Finland on the way to a 6-1 win, led by Brady and Matthew Tkachuk each scoring twice, and then after having locked up their spot in the championship game and resting both Matthew Tkachuk and Auston Matthews, they lost 2-1 in a close one against Sweden on Monday. Canada won both of their other games. They blew a 3-1 third period lead against Sweden in their opener, winning in overtime on a Mitch Marner goal from none other than Captain Canada, Sidney Crosby, who had three points in that game. On Monday they had a bit of a sweat late against Finland, dominating early with a 4-0 lead going into the third period, but with back to back goals 23 seconds apart with less than two minutes late, Sid the Kid hit an empty netter to cover my puck line on their way to a 5-3 win, locking up their spot in the Championship game with a regulation win. Team USA will be without defenseman Charlie McAvoy tonight, who sustained an upper body injury and left Monday’s game. They thought they’d be able to get Quinn Hughes, the best American defenseman in the world, but the Canucks didn’t clear him medically to join the team. It’s almost an impossible task to beat this Canada roster twice in five days, but I think, as I did going into this tournament, that Team USA can pull it out and get the win tonight at home with Boston as the host city of this game. I think the goaltending is what gets them here. Connor Hellebuyck is the game changer here for America. I don’t think Jordan Binnington’s going to be able to hold off Team USA’s offense to the level that they’re going to need. I have two futures on Team USA, one pre-tourney at an awesome +170 price and then saving a bit of juice tonight with the even money mid tournament. I’m letting those ride tonight in what I expect to be a close game, and could absolutely see going to overtime…except this time it isn’t gonna be Sid getting the golden goal again. With what I think will have a Game 7 feel, I’d lean the under in this game, but I’m not betting it with how high powered these offenses are. I do like a a bunch of player props here. I’ve bet Jack Eichel to get a point in every game of this tournament, and he’s cashed it in all of them. I’ll take that for 1.5 units tonight. I like Captain Canada to get a point too, and I’ll take Sid to get a point for a unit as well. A few shot props I like as well, which I’ll take each for half a unit each: Jack Hughes, Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Jake Guentzel, Matt Boldy, and Connor McDavid.
Game Bets
1.5u Jack Eichel over .5 point (-150)
1u Sidney Crosby over .5 point (-130)
.5u Connor McDavid over 2.5 shots on goal (-130)
.5u Jack Hughes over 2.5 shots on goal (-120)
.5u Brady Tkachuk over 2.5 shots on goal (-115)
.5u Matthew Tkachuk over 2.5 shots on goal (-110)
.5u Jake Guentzel over 2.5 shots on goal (+110)
.5u Matt Boldy over 1.5 shots on goal (-155)
Tournament Bets
2u Tournament Winner: Team USA (+170)
1u Tournament Winner: Team USA (+100)
Futures
2u Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup (+1800)
Record (Season): 377-346-13 (-47.66 units)
Record (Tourney): 14-12 (-0.25 units)
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A Town's Zone 