How the United States made up for Quinn Hughes’ absense against Finland

With Quinn Hughes unavailable for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, the Americans needed someone to step up and help push their offense from the back end. Look no further than Zach Werenski.

The Columbus Blue Jackets blueliner was in beast mode against Finland in their opening matchup Thursday night, finishing the game with three assists, one hit, one blocked shot, in 21:45 of ice time. Werenski is having a stellar season with the Blue Jackets, and carried his strong play into the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. So far through the NHL season, the 27-year-old blueliner has recorded an impressive 59 points in 55 games.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli dove into the American’s impressive 6-1 victory over Finland, and how Werenski was able to contribute from the blueline.

Yaremchuk: We talked a lot about Quinn Hughes and his absence on this blueline. One guy that we had pointed out as – ‘hey, watch him to step up’, was Zach Werenski. Three points for him in game one, what did you make of his game, what did you make of how that Team USA blueline looked?

Seravalli: It looked pretty good. They were pretty efficient in moving the puck, I thought Werenski was fantastic, and a huge plus for this team. Which is the way he’s played all season long.

You know, I did think they had some hiccups on the power play. That power play actually took some momentum away from this team in the beginning stages of that game. Look, Adam Fox has a Norris trophy in his trophy case, certainly a capable defenseman and can play on that power play. But, it’s just not the same as having Quinn Hughes.

For complete coverage of the 4 Nations Face-Off, including a preview into the highly anticipated Canada/USA matchup on Saturday night, watch the full episode below.