MONTREAL — There was an absence of the pomp and circumstance that accompanied Wednesday’s Canada-Sweden opener of this 4 Nations Face-Off.

There was also an absence of electricity both on the ice and in the stands for this match between the USA and Finland that had been evident in the rink 24 hours earlier.

But there was hockey, high-stakes, best-on-best hockey, even if it took quite the while for the Americans to get to their game and display superiority in their 6-1 victory in advance of Saturday night’s showdown against the mighty Canadians.

“It is going to be,” said Brady Tkachuk, “the biggest game I’ve ever played in my career.”