Canada wins hockey's 4 Nations Face-off championship in overtime thriller
Canada's men's hockey team defeated the USA 3-2 in overtime Thursday to capture the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off Championship as the NHL put on a show in the first edition of this midseason international tournament.
The overtime period opened up with end-to-end action and both teams having chances to put the game away as tension filled Boston's TD Garden. Eventually it was Team Canada's Connor McDavid scoring the game-winning goal, giving the Canadian superstar his biggest moment on the international stage and echoing teammate Sidney Crosby's overtime winner against the USA in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
During the pre-game festivities of the highly-anticipated final, Team USA hockey icon Mike Eruzione honored the late Johnny Gaudreau. Serving as an honorary captain alongside Wayne Gretzky, the 'Miracle on Ice' captain wore Gaudreau's No. 13 Team USA jersey as he skated out to the ice.
Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring for Team Canada, getting the puck on a pass from Thomas Harley before whipping the wrist shot from the top of the slot, sending it through traffic and past Connor Hellebuyck for the 1-0 score.
Team USA answered back with just over three minutes left in the first period. Captain Auston Matthews attempted a wraparound shot, but Canada's goalie Jordan Binnington made the stop. However, left winger Brady Tkachuk was there to capitalize, tapping in the deflected puck to even the score at 1-1.
'I've never experienced anything like that,' Tkachuk told the ESPN broadcast after the 1st period.
Tkachuk was questionable to play entering Thursday night's final, after leaving the team's game against Sweden early on Monday, and missing the team's practice on Wednesday due to illness.
'I wouldn't miss the game for the world,' Tkachuk said. 'This is basically, I mean guys are talking as much as you can emulate a Game 7 or even bigger than that so there's not a chance in hell that I was missing this one.'
Just like in their first matchup on Saturday, where they initially fell behind 1-0, Team USA once again found themselves trailing before seizing the lead in the second period.
With over 12 minutes left in the second period, Zach Werenski fired a shot from near the blue line, but Canada's Binnington was there for the stop. Matthews though quickly gathered the rebound and as he attempted to pass it to Brady Tkachuk, the puck was deflected, landing by Jake Sanderson, who buried it into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead.
Slavin made the start in the final in place of the injured Charlie McAvoy, who suffered an upper-body injury during Team USA's first game of the tournament against Finland.
However, Canada flipped the script a minute later, when Mitchell Marner dished a pass to Sam Bennett, who skated through the left circle before going top shelf from close range to tie the game 2-2.
With 'USA, USA' chants filling the TD Garden throughout the tension-filled third period, neither side was able to find the back of the net and the game went into overtime.
After 60 minutes of regulation, it was only right that a game of this magnitude headed into overtime. For some Team USA fans, it stirred memories of the 2010 gold medal game between the two sides, when Crosby's iconic 'golden goal' in overtime secured Canada's triumph at the Vancouver Olympics.
During the round-robin stage of those Olympics, Team USA had defeated Canada, only to fall short in the championship rematch. That victory remained their last against Canada until their win on Saturday.
In the sudden death overtime, Canada's Jordan Binnington came up with multiple game-saving stops, robbing Brady Tkachuk and Auston Matthews a couple times before McDavid's game-winner.
The intensity surrounding the title game and the inaugural 4 Nations Face-off tournament itself soared after these two historic rivals met Saturday in Montreal.
In that round-robin matchup, three on-ice fights broke out in the game's first nine seconds, sending the crowd at the Bell Centre into a frenzy and leaving most of the hockey world yearning for a rematch.
The rivalry had added spice thanks to the political clashes between the two nations over the last several weeks sparked by President Donald Trump's return to office. Trump has repeatedly stated his desire to see Canada become the US' 51st state, jabbed at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and threatened massive tariffs that would have a devastating effect on Canada's economy.
That political dynamic has led to 'The Star-Spangled Banner' being booed at rinks across Canada in recent weeks, including on Saturday in Montreal before the first clash between the two teams. 'O Canada' was booed briefly on Thursday in Boston, but it appeared much of the crowd was singing the Canadian anthem together by its conclusion.
The US was first to earn the right to play in the championship game with that 3-1 win over Canada Saturday, while the Canadians locked up the rematch with Team USA by holding off Finland 4-3 on Monday.
Despite the US victory on Saturday, history was on the Canadians' side going into Thursday's final. Team Canada had emerged victorious in five of its past six international best-on-best hockey tournaments, including three in a row: the 2010 and 2014 Olympics and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Team USA, meanwhile, hadn't won an international best-on-best final since 1996, when they took a best-of-three final over Canada at the World Cup of Hockey, scoring back-to-back 5-2 wins in Montreal after losing game one of the series in overtime in Philadelphia.
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