Even before the Thursday night finale, the NHL’s first Four Nations Face-Off was a roaring success.
After Team Canada’s thrilling overtime victory over their neighboring rival Team USA, it was certain: this was the most successful event in modern NHL history.
The two teams had met earlier in the tournament, in a round-robin game that boiled over immediately. There were three fights in the first nine seconds of the game, and sixty-three hits across three periods of hockey. Bruins’ defensemen Charlie McAvoy for his crunching hit on Connor McDavid that lifted the Edmonton superstar into the air. USA held onto a 2-1 lead for two periods after going down early and eked out a 3-1 win.
Prior to Thursday night’s rematch, players from both sides were comparing the atmosphere to that of a Stanley Cup Playoff game. The last time Canada and the USA had faced each other in a best-on-best tournament was in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where Canada won 4-2. The last time they’d played in a final was during the 2011 Olympics when Sidney Crosby scored his iconic “golden goal” for a Team Canada win in overtime.
Long story short: Canada have always had USA’s number during best-on-best hockey.
After their first victory during the Four Nations tournament, USA hoped that this was finally the moment they could get over the hill and best Canada. They had home-ice advantage as well, with the final being played in Boston’s TD Garden.
Things started out rough for them. Nathan MacKinnon scored his tournament-high fourth goal to give Canada a 1-0 advantage five minutes into the game. With three minutes left in the first, Brady Tkachuk, the MVP of the tournament for the US, scored the equalizer. Team USA took their first lead of the game in the first half of the second period as replacement defensemen Jake Sanderson got his first goal of the tournament. Sam Bennett tied things up shortly after, and the game remained at 2-2 for the next twenty-six minutes.
The first final of the Four Nations Face-Off was heading overtime.
The atmosphere inside TD Garden was absolutely electric. The nerves were palpable. Americans and Canadians alike knew how much this meant. No one was more aware of this than the players.
Momentum flowed back and forth for most of the period. Both teams had chances at the other ends of the ice. Then, eight minutes into overtime, Connor McDavid received a pass from Mitch Marner, dead on in front of the goal. The best player on the planet wasted no time firing the puck to the right of USA goaltender Hellebuyck.
It was official: Canada were victorious again. Despite playing well-rounded hockey with no shortage of star power, USA Hockey is still the little brother in this North American rivalry.
