Canada is back on top of the men’s hockey world.
The Canadians beat the U.S. 3-2 in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday in Boston, winning the first international tournament featuring the NHL’s best players since 2016.
Connor McDavid scored the overtime winner, while Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett had Canada’s other goals. Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson replied for the U.S.
Canada’s victory wraps what was a heated mid-season competition also featuring Sweden and Finland.
Amid rising political tension in North America, Canadian fans booed the American anthem in Montreal then watched as three fights broke out in the first nine seconds of the teams’ round-robin contest.
The teams also traded barbs through the media and participated in two supremely physical games against each other.
The U.S. won the first game 3-1, but it was Canada that ultimately emerged victorious when it mattered most.
Canada also won the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and took gold at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics — the last two times NHLers have participated in the event.
With the league set to return to the Games in less than one year for Milano-Cortina 2026, it won’t be long before many of the same players from the 4 Nations return to battle.
More to come.
