'One of the best defencemen to ever play': Canada hopes Makar can gut it out

Cale Makar returned to the ice at Team Canada's skate, but the defenceman remains a game-time decision for Saturday's showdown with the United States. 

"I'm feeling a little bit better," Makar said. "We'll see how it goes this afternoon and stuff. Yeah, not great, but better today so we'll see how it progresses."

"This won't be a situation [where] we ever put Cale Makar in harm's way," Team Canada coach Jon Cooper stressed. "If he's in the lineup, he'll be good to go." 

Makar missed Friday's practice due to an illness that has plagued him most of the week. 

"I think he was pretty sick last game too and he didn't look it," said centre Nathan MacKinnon, who is Makar's teammate on the Colorado Avalanche. "He's so mentally tough that nothing fazes that guy. Definitely one of the last guys I'm worried about."

Makar played a game high 28 minutes and six seconds during Canada's 4-3 overtime win against Sweden on Wednesday, which opened the 4 Nations Face-Off. 

"He's the best defenceman in the world so him at 80 [per cent] is better than almost anybody anyways," MacKinnon added. 

"He's probably not wrong," said Cooper, "but I'm not going to sit here and say if he's 80 per cent we're going to put him in. What he's saying is right, and could be 60 per cent. He's really, really good."

A Norris Trophy winner in 2022, Makar leads all NHL defencemen with 63 points this season.

"He hit me with a pass in the neutral zone there last game and I was shocked to even get the puck," raved centre Connor McDavid. "He thinks the game at a high level."

"He's one of the best defencemen to ever play the game," said winger Brad Marchand. "The poise he has with the puck, the minutes he logs, such an incredible defenceman so hopefully he's in there tonight."

Canada is already without Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Shea Theodore, who is out week-to-week after sustaining an upper-body injury on Wednesday. Travis Sanheim will take his spot in the lineup on Saturday. 

Meanwhile, Thomas Harley has joined Team Canada in Montreal and will draw in if Makar can't play. He's not allowed to take part in official team activities, but Harley joined the group on the ice after Makar departed on Saturday morning. 

"If there's any question of what this tournament means to guys that's the biggest example right there," McDavid said. "You think of Harley being a few hours from being in Cabo to being here and being part of the group and maybe not even getting an opportunity. I think it shows what it  means to be a part of this group and this tournament."

Canadian players cheered and tapped their sticks as the Dallas Stars defenceman hit the ice. 

"I don't want to put these guys in a tough spot so it was great we were able to bring Harley in, at least have that option if we need it," Makar said. "Again, feeling better today and we'll see how the afternoon progresses, but obviously going to do everything I possibly can to play in this one."

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Team Canada is sticking with Jordan Binnington in net. 

"He gave us a chance to win," Cooper said. "Watch the overtime, that said it all for me. In the biggest moment of the game the kid came up huge for us so he deserves it."

Binnington allowed three goals on 26 shots against the Swedes, but stopped all four he faced in overtime. 

The Americans present a challenge not just because of their incredible skill, but they also have an ability to agitate around the net thanks to Matthew Tkachuk and younger brother Brady Tkachuk. 

Is Cooper confident that Binnington, who backstopped the St. Louis Blues to the 2019 Stanley Cup, can keep his cool? 

"He's a really committed kid," the coach said. "Whatever things he's gotten into in the NHL at times, I don't think that would ever cross anybody's mind to happen here. That hasn't even crossed my mind until that question. This kid is dialled in, but I love his competitive fire."

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The Tkachuk brothers each scored twice in Thursday's 6-1 win over the Finns. Brady led the game with eight hits while Matthew was credited with two. 

"They're like the Bash Brothers a little bit," defenceman Charlie McAvoy said with a smile. 

"They tend to just drag guys into the fight," said centre Dylan Larkin. "It's beautiful, it really is, listening to those two guys talk. It's like, you know, 'Slap Shot' with the things they come up with. It's beautiful stuff."

Coach Mike Sullivan promoted Brady to the top line with Matthew and Jack Eichel in the second half of the game on Thursday. Marchand was surprised the siblings didn't start the tournament together. 

"They're two of the fiercest competitors in the league," Marchand said. "It's hard to play against a line against that. There's not really an answer. You gotta go out and play your game against them and hope it goes well." 

The Tkachuk brothers are setting the tone for Team USA right now. 

"It's up to us to come out of the gates flying tonight," Matthew said, "hitting everything, getting in on the forecheck, getting pucks to Eichs, that stuff. We're looking forward to it." 

"I think it elevates everybody," said captain Auston Matthews. "You see the intensity and the fire those guys play with and I think it raises everybody's level." 

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Matthew will be facing his Florida Panthers teammate Sam Bennett, who draws in for the first time at the 4 Nations Face-Off. 

"I'm very happy that he's, first of all, in tonight," Matthew said. "He's such an intense player and he's a winner. I love playing with him. Like, he's a guy that I look forward to going into the battle with each and every night. He's a guy you want on your side. It's kind of weird now that we're on different teams."

He's vowing to treat Bennett like any other Canadian. 

"At the end of the day, we're going to do everything possible to win for our team and our country," Matthew insisted. 

"It will be interesting if Sam and Matthew meet in a corner at some point," Cooper noted with a grin.

Bennett led the Stanley Cup playoffs in hits during Florida's championship run last season. 

"He rises to the occasion in these big moments," Cooper said, "especially when the physicality and the game is at its brightest, he's done a heck of a job."

Bennett will play on a line with Seth Jarvis and Marchand, who he knocked out of a playoff game just last spring thanks to a sneaky punch. 

"He's a competitor," Marchand said with a chuckle. "I've seen it first hand. He comes up big in those moments."

The pair briefly addressed their playoff past this week.

"We didn't really get into it," Marchand said. "I just more said I'm not passing him the puck. But we were just joking around. Stuff happens out there."

"It's been awesome," said Jarvis. "Those are two great guys. You can tell the level of professionalism it takes to go out there and battle as hard as they did and come in here and act like nothing happened. It's nice to see that. It's really good for our locker room."

Lots of players have had run-ins with Bennett. 

"I have a good history with him, right," American defenceman Jaccob Slavin said with a smile. 

Bennett knocked Slavin out of a playoff game back in 2023. 

"I was unconscious flying through the air from him," Slavin said with a smile. "He's a physical guy. He plays hard, but it doesn't change what we do." 

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The American national anthem was booed by some fans prior to Thursday's game. 

"Obviously don't love to see that, but it is what it is," said Matthews, who is also captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. "It's out of our control. That's all I'm really going to say about it."

"I'd like to see all anthems respected," said McDavid, who wears the 'C' for the Edmonton Oilers. "That's all I'll really say about it."

Cooper, who is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, wasn't asked about the anthems specifically, but decided to address the issue during the final question of his media session. 

"When we're in that arena tonight and we're celebrating the greatest game in the world two anthems are going to be played in the beginning and I trust that the great fans, the passionate fans that are going to celebrate this sport, will cheer both anthems," Cooper said. "And we unite together and celebrate what might be the greatest game that's going to happen in the past decade." 

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Projected Team Canada lineup: 

Reinhart - McDavid - Marner
Crosby - MacKinnon - Stone
Hagel - Cirelli - Point
Marchand - Bennett - Jarvis

Projected Team USA lineup:

B.Tkachuk - Eichel - M.Tkachuk
Guentzel - Matthews - Hughes
Miller - Larkin - Boldy
Nelson - Trocheck - Connor

Werenski - McAvoy
Hanifin - Fox
Slavin - Faber

Hellebuyck starts