Bennett: Canada 'made it too easy' for Hellebuyck in 1st matchup

Team Canada knows it will have to make life more difficult for United States goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in order to win Thursday's title game at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Canadian forward Sam Bennett said his team didn't challenge Hellebuyck enough in Saturday's round-robin meeting between the two rivals. Bennett believes rebound opportunities could be one way to solve the Vezina Trophy favorite.

"That's how we're going to generate more chances," Bennett said Tuesday, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. "We definitely let (Hellebuyck) off the hook and made it too easy for him the last time we played him, so I think that's going to be a key for us on Thursday."

Canada created 26 shots on goal and 30 scoring chances against the USA in the first matchup, according to Natural Stat Trick, but Hellebuyck shut the door with only one goal against. The Winnipeg Jets netminder has won both his starts in the tournament and posted a .957 save percentage.

Canadian defenseman Josh Morrissey, a longtime teammate of Hellebuyck with the Jets, believes having Cale Makar in Canada's lineup will help. Makar was unavailable for the loss due to illness.

"I was talking about it after the (Finland) game last night: His ability to walk the line and get shots through is probably the best in the NHL," Morrissey said. "His wrist shot, snap shot, however you want to call it, is so lethal."

The highly anticipated championship game is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. ET in Boston.