Covering the Canucks for Daily Hive since 2019. Also co-host of the Locked On Canucks Podcast alongside Kyle Bhawan.

<p>It&#8217;s the matchup that an entire continent has been waiting for.</p>
<p>Canada and the United States both took care of business, winning their respective semi-final games at the Milano Cortina Olympics to set up an epic gold medal showdown.</p>
<p>The hype for this contest notched up a couple of levels after these teams battled twice in last year&#8217;s 4 Nations tournament.</p>
<p>One game in that tournament featured three fights in nine seconds. The other was capped off with a tournament-clinching overtime goal by Canada&#8217;s Connor McDavid.</p>
<p>None of that matters as much as this epic gold medal game on Sunday.</p>
<p>With very little separating these two hockey powerhouses, here are the seven matchups that will likely decide who wins gold.</p>
<h2>1. Binnington vs. Hellebuyck</h2>
<p>Most of the time in hockey, when things get tight, it comes down to goaltending.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s where, at least on paper, the USA has a massive edge.</p>
<p>Thankfully, the game isn&#8217;t played on paper.</p>
<p>Connor Hellebuyck has had a tournament to remember thus far, winning all four games while stopping 87 of 92 shots that he&#8217;s faced (.945 save percentage).</p>
<p>Jordan Binnington isn&#8217;t in the same stratosphere as Hellebuyck, even if he&#8217;s had a decent tournament this far (.913 save percentage).</p>
<p>However, Binnington has shown a tendency to step up on the big stage, proving that with a couple of massive overtime saves in last year&#8217;s 4 Nations tournament.</p>
<h2>2. Hughes vs. Makar</h2>
<p>Both the United States and Canada are blessed with the two best defencemen on the planet.</p>
<p>But whichever player steps up in the gold medal game could decide who wins this battle.</p>
<p>Hughes already has his shining moment in this tournament, scoring the <a href="https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/ex-canucks-captain-hughes-usa-closer-gold-medal-showdown-canada" target="_blank">overtime winner against Sweden in the quarter-finals.</a> He&#8217;s outscored Makar slightly in this tournament as well, with seven points compared to Makar&#8217;s five.</p>
<h2>3. Tkachuk brothers vs. Chaos Line</h2>
<p>There were fireworks aplenty when these teams met at the 4 Nations.</p>
<p>And, while nobody is expecting three fights in the Gold Medal Game, some intensity is to be anticipated.</p>
<p>Matthew and Brady Tkachuk have been their typical selves at these Olympics, getting on the scoresheet while causing a ruckus in scrums. Both players were handed 10-minute misconducts at the end of America&#8217;s game versus Slovakia.</p>
<p>Meanwhile in Canada, we saw <a href="https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-chaos-line-wilson-marchand-bennett-olympics" target="_blank">the formation of the &#8216;Chaos Line&#8217;</a> against Finland, featuring Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Tom Wilson.</p>
<p>Which of these characters will be able to get under their opposition&#8217;s skin the most? Or, perhaps more importantly, will penalties taken by any of these players turn the tide of the game?</p>
<h2>4. Battle of the power plays</h2>
<p>You probably couldn&#8217;t draw up deadlier power plays if you tried.</p>
<p>Canada&#8217;s first unit features McDavid, Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini and Sam Reinhart. So far in the tournament, each player has at least one power play goal. They&#8217;ve scored on seven of their 16 power plays so far (43.7 per cent).</p>
<p>However, that unit will face a United States penalty kill that hasn&#8217;t allowed a power play goal against at the Olympics.</p>
<p>Behind Canada in the power play rankings is the United States, who&#8217;ve scored on four of its 14 power plays. The first unit features Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Matthew Tkachuk, Hughes, and Tage Thompson.</p>
<p>They&#8217;ll go up against a Canadian penalty kill that is clicking at just 72.3 per cent.</p>
<h2>5. McDavid vs. Matthews</h2>
<p>Clearly, McDavid is in a stratosphere of his own.</p>
<p>Behind him, even Macklin Celebrini has arguably been the second-best player at this tournament.</p>
<p>But, in a one-game elimination, you can&#8217;t discount how hungry Matthews may be to get his revenge against McDavid.</p>
<p>Matthews was mere centimetres away from behind the hero at the 4 Nations, with Binnington robbing him point-blank in overtime. Binnington then proceeded to stop Matthews two other times with massive stops.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LwzjsZJn-bY" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>After Matthews was foiled thrice, McDavid scored the overtime winner, just seconds after beating USA&#8217;s captain in the face-off dot, no less.</p>
<h2>6. Battle of the &#8220;Third Line&#8221; Heroes</h2>
<p>With both teams featuring loaded rosters, the game may come down to which depth players have the biggest impact.</p>
<p>For both the USA and Canada, they have third-line players who&#8217;ve made a massive impact at this tournament.</p>
<p>Although Canadian head coach Jon Cooper has juggled lines, one of his main forward trios has been Mitch Marner, Nick Suzuki and Mark Stone.</p>
<p>Suzuki scored the game-tying goal for Canada against Czechia, while Marner sent his country to the semi-finals with the overtime winner.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/i5cs3WcUiu0" width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>The most common third line for the United States so far has been Jack Hughes, Dylan Larkin and Thompson. All three players scored in the USA&#8217;s semi-final win over Slovakia, and they accounted for four of their team&#8217;s six total goals in that game.</p>
<h2>7. Crosby vs. the injury bug</h2>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to call Canada&#8217;s Sidney Crosby an X-factor.</p>
<p>But, with his status for the gold medal game <a href="https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-update-crosby-status-olympic-gold-medal-game" target="_blank">hanging in the balance</a>, his impact on this game varies wildly.</p>
<p>Missing Crosby would be a huge loss for Canada. Even though he missed Friday&#8217;s game, his six points trail only McDavid, Celebrini, and MacKinnon on Team Canada.</p>
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<p>No one playing in Sunday&#8217;s game is as proven or accomplished as Crosby. If he draws in, it could be the difference Canada needs to claim gold.</p>
<ul class="article-see-also"><strong>You might also like:</strong><li><a href='https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/blondin-silver-medal-canada-peed-skating-win-olympics' target='_blank'>Blondin streaks to silver as Canada&#039;s women speed skaters continue Olympic dominance</a></li><li><a href='https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-beats-usa-womens-curling-olympics' target='_blank'>Canada sticks it to USA with bronze in Olympic women&#039;s curling</a></li><li><a href='https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/canada-update-crosby-status-olympic-gold-medal-game' target='_blank'>Canada gives hopeful update about Crosby&#039;s status ahead of Olympic gold medal game</a></li></ul>


Vancouver

Calgary

Toronto

Edmonton

With not much separating Canada and the United States, these seven matchups may decide to wins gold at the Olympics in Milan on Sunday.