Nothing is set in stone, but based on Monday’s practice for Team Canada, it looks like the lines are set for the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. Connor McDavid is the top center on the team and two interesting names flank him. Sidney Crosby is playing and he’ll center the second line, which means no Crosby or McDavid on the same line.
Team Canada lines at 4 Nations practice:
McDavid has a great goal scorer in Reinhart on one and an elite playmaker on the other. He talked about playing with Marner and said he’d never played with him at any level or in any past tournaments. It will be intriguing to see how quickly they develop chemistry.
Meanwhile, Crosby and MacKinnon are great friends, and they’ll be on a line. Crosby was a maybe going into the tournament based on an injury, but he was practicing with the team. How many games he plays is still not confirmed.
As per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the first power play unit in practice consisted of: Makar, Reinhart, McDavid, Crosby, and MacKinnon.
Team Canada kept Toews and Makar together, which makes sense. Doughty, who was a last-minute addition, is in the top four, and Sanheim is the extra defenseman. The top part of this blue line corps is solid, but there are some question marks.
Goaltending is Team Canada’s obvious weakness. If they get exposed, it will be because of a hole in this area.
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