MONTREAL — Already, Staff Canada is down a person.
Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore will miss the remainder of the 4 Nations Face-Off after struggling an obvious proper wrist damage early within the second interval of Canada’s 4-3 time beyond regulation victory over Sweden, coach Jon Cooper stated.
Meaning Travis Sanheim — who was an additional Wednesday — shall be within the lineup the remainder of the best way, with Canada down to 6 defensemen.
In the meanwhile, Canada is just not allowed to herald one other participant, which means that could be a everlasting state of play barring extra accidents.
“That’s an enormous blow,” Cooper stated. “What a child and solely performed six minutes. Coronary heart’s breaking for the child. He was the primary one in there hugging all people.
“It’s a tricky one to swallow since you simply understand how a lot it means. He bought to the touch the ice, get a while in there, however it was powerful. The velocity of that sport, to play by way of the final [40] minutes with out a defenseman, that’s a grind.”
Certainly, being with out Theodore for many of the sport meant heavy minutes for the remainder of Canada’s protection corps, particularly the highest pair of Devon Toews and Cale Makar, who performed 28:06 and 25:53 apiece, respectively.
That took its toll as Sweden chipped away at a 3-1 result in pressure time beyond regulation.
“I believed it damage us loads,” Connor McDavid stated. “He’s a fantastic participant and it’s powerful. You guys noticed the tempo tonight, we felt the tempo and it’s powerful on these D. To play 5, we defended possibly somewhat an excessive amount of, however these 5 D grinded. They did a fantastic job.”
It’s unclear as of now whether or not Sanheim will slot into Theodore’s spot alongside Drew Doughty or Cooper will revamp his pairs. Canada has two follow days earlier than its second match of the match Saturday night time in opposition to Staff USA.
The evaluations had been blended for the 10-minute time beyond regulation format, with Nathan MacKinnon saying he had no curiosity in any way in importing it for the NHL’s common season.
“Perhaps seven,” he stated. “I can’t consider I appeared off Connor on that rush [a two-on-one in overtime]. I might barely see I used to be so drained on that rush. I used to be glad when Marner scored. I didn’t have a lot left to provide.”