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Zach Werenski's 3 assists help U.S. rout Finland to open play in 4 Nations Face-Off
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- Zach Werenski's 3 assists help U.S. rout Finland to open play in 4 Nations Face-Off
Zach Werenski played a key role in helping the United States open the 4 Nations Face-Off with a 6-1 rout over Finland on Thursday in Montreal .
Werenski, a defenseman who leads the Blue Jackets in scoring , finished with three points on three assists and led the U.S. in ice time with 21:45 on 27 shifts. He also broke up a potential scoring chance against Mikko Rantanen before it fully developed, denying one of the world's top power forwards a path to the net with the game tied 1-1 in the second period.
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Werenski also sparked a stagnant U.S. power play that started out with New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox quarterbacking the top unit. Werenski took over for Fox to start the third period and the U.S. promptly generated two goals by Matthew Tkachuk in a four-goal period.
In other words, Werenski did for USA Hockey what he's done for the Blue Jackets during a career-best breakout effort that has him poised to contend for the Norris Trophy, which goes to the NHL's top defenseman.
It was quite a start to Werenski's first experience playing in an NHL best-on-best international tournament. Tkachuk and his younger brother, Brady Tkachuk , each scored two goals to lead a U.S. attack that broke open a tight game in the third.
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Werenski assisted on Brady Tkachuk's first goal, which tied it 1-1 in the first period, before assisting on both of Matthew Tkachuk's power-play goals in the third. Those were primary assists after Werenski got the puck to Tkachuk with a pass high in Finland's zone for the first one, and then a shot attempt to create a rebound for the second.
Zach Werenski (8) of Team USA and Mikko Rantanen #of Team Finland battle for position on Thursday.
Werenski also played sound defensively, including a fantastic breakup of a developing scoring chance for Rantanen to keep it tied 1-1 in the second. Rantanen pounced on a pass in the U.S. zone, ripped the puck from Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy — Werenski's partner — and was stopped cold by the Blue Jackets defenseman before he could drag it to the net.
Not long afterward, Matt Boldy put the U.S. up 2-1.
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The only thing that went wrong for Werenski was a tripping penalty that sent him to the penalty box early in the third, but even that worked out for him. The U.S. got through the Finnish power play, Werenski stepped back onto the ice and his teammates just barely missed springing him for a breakaway.
It couldn't have gone much better for the Blue Jackets' lone player in the four-team tournament, which continues Saturday with rivalry games pitting Sweden and Finland in the afternoon and Canada against the U.S. at night.
Mikael Granlund (64) of Team Finland and Zach Werenski of Team USA battle on Thursday.
Each team in the tournament plays three games during a round-robin format, which will determine the top two teams for a championship game next week in Boston. Regulation victories award three points, overtime wins are worth two points, overtime losses are worth one point and regulation losses net zero points.
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After the first two games, the U.S. leads the field with three points followed by Canada with two, Sweden with one and Finland at zero.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zach Werenski's 3 assists help U.S. rout Finland at 4 Nations Face-Off
