After Tema USA's morning skate at Agganis Arena at Boston University on Monday morning, head coach Mike Sullivan announced some lineup changes ahead of their game against Sweden on Monday night at the TD Garden.
Following their 3-1 win over Canada on Saturday night in Montreal, Team USA clinched a spot in Thursday night's championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off. Their opponent was made official on Monday afternoon after Canada survived a push from Finland in the third period and held on for a 5-3 win that set up a rematch with Team USA.
When Sullivan announced some of the lineup changes, they came as little surprise. Goalie Connor Hellebuyck was given the night off for rest and Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger got the start with Boston Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman backing him up. Forward Matthew Thachuk was ruled out with a lower-body injury he suffered on Saturday night and Sullivan also said that Charlie McAvoy would be out for rest against Sweden.
Some Bruins fans were caught a little off guard when that news broke, but later Monday afternoon, Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub reported the real reason why Boston's top defenseman was missing the game and it's concerning.
Charlie McAvoy misses Sweden game with upper-body injury
A couple of hours before the drop of the puck between Team USA and Sweden, Anderson posted on his X account that McAvoy was missing the game because of an upper-body injury and his status for Thursday night's title game is up in the air.
It is not known when the injury occurred as he finished out the game against Canada on Saturday night. It may have occurred in the first period when he laid a heavy hit on Canada's Connor McDavid in the defensive zone. Regardless, this injury news is not good for Thursday night and the Black and Gold when the NHL season resumes on Saturday night.