The second 4 Nations Face-Off game on Saturday could be one of the most intense games we see in any competition this year. Canada (1-0-0, 2 points) faces the United States (1-0-0, 3 points) in front of a very partisan Bell Centre crowd, in a political climate that’s seen the American president muse about making Canada the 51st state and imposing tariffs, and the American anthem being booed throughout Canada. All this and there will be a pretty damn interesting hockey game, too, with the winning team essentially punching their ticket for Thursday’s championship final.

Tonight’s broadcast begins at 6 p.m. MT on Sportsnet.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Sam Reinhart [13] – Connor McDavid [97] – Mitch Marner [16]
Sidney Crosby [87] – Nathan MacKinnon [29] – Mark Stone [61]
Brad Marchand [63] – Sam Bennett [9] – Seth Jarvis [24]
Brandon Hagel [38] – Anthony Cirelli [71] – Brayden Point [21]

Devon Toews [5] – Cale Makar [8]
Josh Morrissey [44] – Colton Parayko [55]
Travis Sanheim [6] – Drew Doughty [89]

Jordan Binnington [50] is expected to start in net, backed up by Adin Hill [33]. The projected extras for Canada are Sam Montembeault and Travis Konecny. (Shea Theodore is out for the tournament and Thomas Harley is around the team, but not technically “with” the team yet due to convoluted roster reasons.)

Canada played excellent early and late in Wednesday’s overtime win against Sweden. The bad news is that they had a 3-1 lead… and the game went to overtime anyway. All due respect to the Swedes, but the American roster is a bit more stacked offensively, so hopefully the Canadians learn from their near-miss against Sweden and don’t get as loose defensively as they did the other night.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff

Brady Tkachuk [7] – Jack Eichel [9] – Matthew Tkachuk [19]
Jake Guentzel [59] – Auston Matthews [34] – Jack Hughes [86]
Kyle Connor [81] – J.T. Miller [10] – Matt Boldy [12]
Brock Nelson [29] – Vincent Trocheck [16] – Dylan Larkin [21]

Zach Werenski [8] – Charlie McAvoy [25]
Jaccob Slavin [74] – Adam Fox [23]
Noah Hanifin [15] – Brock Faber [14]

Connor Hellebuyck [37] starts in net for the Americans, backed up by Jake Oettinger [30]. The projected extras are Jeremy Swayman, Jake Sanderson and Chris Kreider.

Thursday night’s game between the USA and Finland was close… until it wasn’t. The Americans kept getting shots and chances and the Finns held them off, but they’re a deep enough, persistent enough side that the dam eventually burst. The USA scored three times in the first three minutes (and change) of the third period, and then kept pushing for the win.

Love ’em or hate ’em – and considering the presence of Adam Fox and a couple former Flames, we suspect Flames fans don’t have much love in their hearts for the Americans – this team has a ton of talent and should be a gigantic obstacle standing in the way of Canada and a championship at this event.

Daily Faceoff Live is on the road! From February 10th to 20th, we’re bringing you live shows every weekday straight from Four Nations, delivering exclusive coverage, insider analysis, and all the tournament action as it unfolds. Don’t miss a beat—subscribe to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and follow us on social for the latest updates. It’s international hockey, so expect intensity, excitement, and maybe even a little chaos. Stay locked in and catch us live from Four Nations!