Cue the song “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd because Team USA just annihilated Team Finland at the Montreal Bell Centre. Do you want to know the score? 6-1, a complete dominance, making the whole nation of the United States proud. Indeed, the team is now leading the 4 Nations Face-Off standings with 3 points, and yes, they are ahead of Team Canada by a single point for now.

But who was the first star of the game? It was Matthew Tkachuk; he and his brother Brady just overshadowed the Finnish hockey side. While this ice battle was important for the first impression, Tkachuk acknowledged a certainty about their next match, which would be with none other than their old hockey rival Team Canada.

In a post-match interview with Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas, the American star for the night, shared his thoughts on the game. However, when the question came about his readiness for the next match, he replied in a bold tone, stating, “I think I’ve thought about this game for nine years, so we’ll be ready for it.” What’s this nine-year wait, though? Well, it’s been a while since Tkachuk went against the Canadians on the ice, and as an arch-rival in hockey, he’s just as excited as the fans.

Indeed, he’s pretty straightforward and determined about the next game. And why shouldn’t he be? Confidence is always the key to success, and Matthew Tkachuk is the man to be honored for today’s game. Surely, it was a team effort, but the goal that the American hockey star secured in the first 15 seconds of the third period became one of the main reasons for the crumbling of Team Finland in the rest of the match.

Whatever happened in the first minute of the third period shocked a lot of people, as the ones who were booing Team USA right before the match completely went mute at whatever had transpired within a minute. While this goal was the turning point of the game, Jake Guentzel’s goal during 00:26 kind of destroyed Team Finland mentally. Indeed, Suomi’s players were trying their best on the ice, but something just wasn’t clicking for the team.

However, Team USA didn’t just stop there, as during 3:00 and 11:13, the Tkachuk brothers scored, making the scoresheet 6-1. During the final ten minutes of the game, it was pretty over for the opposition, as the American players weren’t giving them a single chance of making a comeback in those moments of the match. Well, this was an apt response to silence a crowd that booed Team USA’s entrance into the rink.

Prior to Matthew Tkachuk’s response

Since the 4 Nations Face-Off is an international event, the national anthems of the teams competing was played on the rink as always. However, apart from the booing of Team USA, the crowd at the Montreal Bell Centre crossed a certain limit. “The PA announcer asked everyone to respect the anthems. It went quiet for a moment, and some dude yelled, ‘F— that!’ and the rink proceeded to boo the American anthem,” said Cam Robinson of the Elite Prospects.

Now that’s disgusting! Surely, there are political tensions brewing up between the United States and Canada in recent times, but bringing it to hockey, and especially trash-talking while a country’s national anthem plays, might be a line that was crossed by the crowd that surrounded the rink.

Even the PA anticipated some level of audience animosity towards Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, and preempted the crowd to maintain decorum during the national anthem. However, the Bell Centre’s audience had an antagonistic response which boiled down to the displaced repercussions of political turmoil. But the way the arena subdued down after a dominating 6-1 victory for the United States, this might have humbled a lot of critics of the game.