Team USA Confirms Top Pairing Defenseman Has Been Hospitalized

Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy was hospitalized Monday night after suffering an upper-body injury, forcing him to miss Team USA's 2-1 loss to Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but now things get much worse.

According to Jim McBride of The Boston Globe, McAvoy was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital, with Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan confirming the injury after the game.

McAvoy has dealt with upper-body and shoulder injuries before, including surgery in June 2022. His status for Thursday's final against Canada is still unclear.

McAvoy wasn't the only key player missing from Team USA's lineup.

Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk were also held out of the lineup.

Things got worse when Brady Tkachuk left Monday's game after crashing into the net post.

Vincent Trocheck also briefly exited after hurting his right hand.

Despite the injuries, Team USA nearly forced the game to overtime.

Chris Kreider scored just 35 seconds in, but Sweden responded with first-period goals from Gustav Nyquist and Jesper Bratt.

The loss didn't change much-Team USA will face Canada in Thursday's championship game after Canada took down Finland 5-3.

McAvoy's status remains up in the air, but given his history of injuries, the Bruins and Team USA will likely be without their star defenseman.