TORONTO -- Internally, they believed. The young players on Team North America knew they had the makings of something special even before they announced their arrival in a big way on Sunday against Finland.
"We knew we could do something here," said captain Connor McDavid.
It was just about unveiling it to the rest of us.
"You look around the room and everyone can feel good about it," McDavid said, explaining where the collective confidence came from even before the North Americans had earned their first win. "We have a great goalie in Matt Murray, some great defensemen and some definite speed up front. We have all the makings to be a good hockey team. It's just if we can put it together. We believe in ourselves."
They believe, we're starting to believe, but there's a team that still needs convincing. The Russians.
Russian center Evgeny Kuznetsov watched Team North America dismantle Finland on Sunday night. While others were fawning over the young guns' breakneck speed and waves of skill, you'll have to excuse him if he wasn't joining in.
What was he thinking while watching the kids dominate?
"Nothing," he said.
Nothing.
Yes, North America is playing a different style than other teams in this tournament, Kuznetsov said. And yes, McDavid is one of the best players around, certainly the best at his age (19). Even North America's fourth line, which features two-time Stanley Cup champ Brandon Saad, has great players.
Kuznetsov was willing to concede all of it. Still, he sees a very clear way to beat the kids. Keep the puck away from them.
"We have to control the puck," he said. "If we're going to play with the puck, these guys start do something wrong for sure. We have to play with the puck. We know they're going to play fast, they're going to try to play one-on-one. We have to play smart. Smart. Smart. Smart."
All young players, Kuznetsov explained, enter the NHL with high-end puck skills. It's the play without the puck that comes later in the development.
He pointed to Sweden's second goal against Russia on Sunday as an example of his own team getting mixed up in the defensive zone.
On that goal, Henrik Sedin did a nice job of keeping the puck in the offensive zone, sending it down the wall to Carl Hagelin. Just as Sedin delivered the puck to Hagelin, Victor Hedman made a break for the goal and one-timed a backhanded pass from Hagelin to score.
There was confusion as Swedes were coming off the bench on a line change, and Sweden capitalized.
"When you stand in the D-zone, guys start moving around you, you have to see that everything is right. It's kind of tough," Kuznetsov said. "[North America] can play with the puck, we know that. Same with Sweden. But they can't play without the puck."
Their matchup (Monday at 8 p.m. ET on WatchESPN and ESPN2) will pit two teams that play a similar north-south style, each trying to impose its will on the other. Russia didn't do that particularly well against Sweden. This game has become essentially a must-win for the Russians, so there will be an additional layer of desperation on their part.
Russia's higher level of skill compared with Finland's makes the Russians a threat to transition faster and counterattack more effectively than Finland was able to against North America -- and the expectation is that the Russians will be much more physical.
This may be the first team to truly try to intimidate the kids off the ice.
"The Russia defense will try to be more physical than anything they have seen so far," said one NHL assistant coach in a text on Sunday. "But the North American skill guys with some size -- Nathan MacKinnon, Mark Scheifele, even Auston Matthews -- have handled it so far."
McDavid said he watched the last five minutes of Russia's loss to the Swedes and in those final minutes caught a glimpse of how dangerous Alex Ovechkin can be at any moment. Ovechkin nearly scored twice in the final 33 seconds to even a game Sweden had controlled for the first 59 minutes.
What McDavid missed by tuning in late were the multiple bone-crushing hits by Ovechkin, who will no doubt take aim against the kids.
When asked about this possibility, McDavid provided a great glimpse into the mentality of the young skill player. He didn't say they'd be physical back. He said they'd look to exploit it.
"If they want to run around, that means there's going to be some seams open and some plays that are available," McDavid said. "If they want to take penalties, it's up to our power play to make them pay. That's the best way to get back at guys who run around, put a few in the back of the net."