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Team USA is playing their final Round Robin game of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Monday night against Sweden, and they will be without Auston Matthews for the matchup. The USA already clinched a spot in the championship game, which will take place on Thursday against Canada. Because of that, it doesn't make sense for Matthews to risk a serious injury when he is already battling some upper-body soreness.
“Auston Matthews is out tonight with upper-body soreness and is expected to play vs. Canada,” Michael Russo said in a post. “USA going with 11 forwards/17 skaters rather than playing 7 D.”
Team USA is 2-0 so far in the 4 Nations Face-Off while Sweden is seeking their first win after an 0-2 start.
USA is the team to beat right now in the 4 Nations Face-Off as they are the lone undefeated squad. However, Monday night's game against Sweden is essentially meaningless as the championship game between the US and Canada is already set for Thursday. We likely won't be seeing the same intensity that has come with some of these other matchups.
Team USA got the tournament started last week with a convincing 6-1 win against Finland. Over the weekend, USA improved to 2-0 in the tournament with a thrilling win against Canada. Thursday's rematch is going to be must-watch hockey, and Matthews should be good to go for that one.
Sweden gave Canada all they could handle in the first game of the tournament, but they ended up losing 4-3 in overtime. Sweden put up another good fight against Finland, but they once again fell 4-3 in overtime. There isn't anything to play for except pride on Monday night, but it would definitely feel good to come away with one win in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The championship game between USA and Canada will go down on Thursday night. The game will get going at 8:00 ET, and the US should have Auston Matthews back for that one.
