The Lightning forward scored and added an assist in a big third period for the Americans
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel on Thursday became the first Bolt to score in the 4 Nations Face-Off, helping Team USA bank three standings points with a dominant win over Team Finland.
Team USA defeated Finland’s squad 6-1 in regulation, the first such win of the tournament after Canada beat Sweden 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday.
Guentzel brought a flurry of offense for Team USA in the third period, earning an assist on Matthew Tkachuk’s power-play goal 15 seconds into the frame before Guentzel forced the playing of “Free Bird”, the American goal song, with his first tally of the 4 Nations tournament on the rush only 11 seconds after the Tkachuk goal.
Guentzel took a pass from captain Auston Matthews at the left faceoff circle and beat Finland goalie Juuse Saros with a snap shot on the blocker side 26 seconds into the third period.
Finland was the first team to score on Thursday. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju’s shot from the right faceoff dot opened the scoring on the team's first shot on goal 7:31 into the game.
Team USA responded with six unanswered goals, including Brady Tkachuk’s game-tying goal at the 10:21 mark of the first period. Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy’s redirected goal was the lone tally of the second period, making it 2-1 before the American push in period three.
Guentzel’s two points tied him for third-most on Thursday, trailing only Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk (2-1–3) and Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski (0-3–3).
The tournament will see all four countries play on Saturday. Finland plays Sweden at 1 p.m. before the North American battle between the USA and Canada squads takes center stage at 8 p.m.
Scoring Summary
First period
FIN 1, USA 0
7:31 Henri Jokiharju (1) - Mikael Granlund, Olli Maatta
FIN 1, USA 1
10:21 Brady Tkachuk (1) - Matt Boldy, Zach Werenski
Shots on goal: USA 13, FIN 7
Second period
USA 2, FIN 1
17:04 Matt Boldy (1) - Brock Faber, Kyle Connor
Shots on goal: USA 7, FIN 6
Third period
USA 3, FIN 1
00:15 Matthew Tkachuk (1) - Zach Werenski, Jake Guentzel - PP
USA 4, FIN 1
00:26 Guentzel (1) - Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes
USA 5, FIN 1
3:00 B. Tkachuk (2) - Jack Eichel, M. Tkachuk
USA 6, FIN 1
11:13 M. Tkachuk (2) - Werenski, Eichel - PP
Total shots: USA 32, FIN 21
TBL Player Summary
- Jake Guentzel (USA): Goal, assist, 18:30 TOI, 4 shots on goal, 1 hit, 2 takeaways.
