TORONTO -- Whatever gap exists between Canada and the United States as hockey neighbors never diminishes the fact that whenever the two countries square off, there is bad blood.
And sometimes there is just blood.
"I think when you come into the tournament, both teams circle this game on their schedule as their biggest game in the round-robin," American forward Justin Abdelkader said. "Either of us are joking each other if we're saying it's just another game. This is a huge game. And obviously, where we put ourselves, our tournament's at stake here."
On Tuesday at the World Cup of Hockey (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), the two teams that love to hate each other will meet again with nothing less than survival on the line for the Americans.
After losing to Team Europe 3-0 on Saturday, Team USA must defeat Canada on Tuesday to have a chance to advance beyond the preliminary round. Because Europe beat the Czechs 3-2 in OT on Monday, the U.S. would be eliminated with a loss to Canada.
Nine members of this U.S. team were in Vancouver in 2010, when they lost to the Canadians in the gold-medal game, and 14 players were in Sochi when Canada shut out the Americans 1-0 in the semifinals. That loss, followed by an ugly 5-0 loss to Finland in the bronze-medal game, was a powerful motivating tool for the Americans coming into this tournament.
That motivation was evident in the first pre-tournament game between these two teams, when Team USA center Ryan Kesler was ejected for hitting Canadian defenseman Shea Weber from behind, and officials missed another dangerous situation when American T.J. Oshie rammed Canada's Logan Couture into the sideboards from behind.
There is the promise of more testy, one-on-one battles that have been heating up over the years: Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby vs. American scoring champ Patrick Kane, former Vezina winner Carey Price against two-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick and international rivals Jonathan Toews of Canada against USA's David Backes, among others.
Let's not forget, of course, that the game will be held on Canada's home turf.
"I think we're relishing the underdog role, being in Canada," U.S. defender Erik Johnson said. "Kind of going into the hornets' nest [Tuesday] night and kind of being those underdogs."
Certainly, the Canadians, who have been dominant at recent best-on-best events, winning Olympic gold in 2002, 2010 and 2014 and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, have less to prove. That doesn't make the game any less compelling for them.
"It's Canada and the U.S.," Canadian defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. "It's the biggest game with all the things that surround it and all that."
What does Team USA head coach John Tortorella expect?
"We're coming," Tortorella said. "We're going to come. That's no secret. It's a way we've been built."
Someone suggested it might be a bloodbath.
"Bloodbath? I don't want to call it that," Tortorella said. "We're going to play the game the right way. It's not about yapping after the whistle. I think we need to have just a business look. I don't think there should be any talking. I think you just play between the whistles and play the right way, the way we're supposed to play for us to get an opportunity to win."
The best part? If the Americans do upset Canada, there could be a rematch in the final.
