On Tap
Czechia vs. Sweden (5 p.m. ET)
First place in Group B goes to the winner.
Czechia (3-0-0-0, nine points) has scored a tournament-high 23 goals, but 14 of them came against Kazakhstan on Saturday. It’s been a balanced attack, with Jakub Stancl (St. Louis Blues) and Vojtech Hradec (Utah Hockey Club) leading them with seven points (four goals, three assists) each. Czechia captain Eduard Sale (Seattle Kraken) has been their best playmaker, scoring two goals in a 4-2 win against Slovakia on Sunday.
Sweden (3-0-0-0, nine points) needs to improve its penalty kill after allowing four power-play goals in the third period against Switzerland on Sunday. The flip side is they have the tournament’s best power play at 46.1 percent (6-for-13). They’re also getting solid offensive contributions from their defensemen led by Axel Sandin-Pellikka (Detroit Red Wings) with seven points (four goals, three assists) and Tom Willander (Vancouver Canucks) with five (two goals, three assists). Forward Otto Stenberg (Blues), who has four points (one goal, three assists) in three games, is questionable after leaving practice early Monday following a collision with a teammate.
United States vs. Canada (8 p.m. ET)
Group A is on the line between the tournament’s biggest rivals.
“I think that’s kind of the game that’s been circled in everyone’s calendar, U.S. vs. Canada,” Canada forward Berkly Catton (Kraken) said Sunday. “It’s the biggest one, and that’s when you see who the real players are and who shows up for that one.”
The United States (2-0-1-0, seven points) will need more people to show up after what it felt was a lackluster effort against Finland. The power play is 2-for-11 in three games, including 0-for-4 with one short-handed goal allowed Sunday.
“I think we were a little almost not ready to play,” forward Brodie Ziemer (Buffalo Sabres) said. “Obviously some bad penalties kind of cost us. We learn from it, and we’ll be better.”
Canada (2-0-1-0, seven points) was better in its 3-0 win against Germany on Sunday, two days after its stunning loss to Latvia. They have just one 5-on-5 goal in the past two games, but the players are confident they’re close to a breakthrough.
“We’re generating lots now, it’s just on us to put it home,” Catton said. “I think it’s going to come and once we get maybe one or two, it’s just going to start opening and flooding.”
The rivalry should provide ample motivation for both teams.
“They hate us out there, and I love it,” U.S. defenseman Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals) said. “It’s going to be fun, probably a sold-out building … it’s going to be a fun game and definitely going to be an intense one too.”
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman and senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report