Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly and Team North America take on Leo Komarov and Team Finland in Group B action at the World Cup of Hockey (8 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).
Risk has been a theme of McLellan’s as he talked about his team this week, leading up to their first game that counts on Sunday against Finland. North America’s coaching staff is concerned that their players’ penchant for great offensive plays will bite them defensively, which could be deadly in a short tournament where every goal matters.
They realize that their team is in tough as it is. For the young guns to advance out of their group, they’ll have to finish ahead of two of Russia, Sweden and Finland – three major hockey powers filled with veteran NHL players.
If they manage that, however, they will likely get a date with either Canada or the United States in a do-or-die semi-final next weekend. Several North America players admitted that having the chance to eliminate their home country, up against some of their idols, would be strange.
But they can’t wait to try.
– James Mirtle, The Globe and Mail
Team Finland Projeted Lineup
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Patrik Laine | Aleksander Barkov | Jussi Jokinen |
| Mikael Granlund | Mikko Koivu | Joonas Donskoi |
| Valtteri Filpulla | Jori Lehtera | Teuvo Teravainen |
| Lauri Korpikoski | Erik Haula | Leo Komarov |
| Left Defense | Right Defense | |
| Olli Maatta | Rasmus Ristolainen | |
| Jyrki Jokipakka | Sami Vatanen | |
| Esa Lindell | Ville Pokka | |
| Goaltenders | ||
| Pekka Rinne | ||
| Tuukka Rask |
Team North America Projected Lineup
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Auston Matthews | Connor McDavid | Mark Scheifele |
| Jonathan Drouin | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Nathan MacKinnon |
| Johnny Gaudreau | Jack Eichel | Dylan Larkin |
| Vincent Trochek | Sean Couturier | Brandon Saad |
| Left Defense | Right Defense | |
| Morgan Rielly | Colton Parayko | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | Jacob Trouba | |
| Ryan Murray | Seth Jones | |
| Goaltenders | ||
| Matt Murray | ||
| John Gibson |
