Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of extra time within the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game to present Canada a 3-2 victory over america on Thursday night because the North American rivals turned what had been a tune-up for the 2026 Olympics right into a geopolitical brawl over anthems and annexation as much as international hockey supremacy.
Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett also scored for Canada. Jordan Binnington made 25 saves in the primary three periods and 6 more in the additional period on the identical ice where he helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup five years ago.
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Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson scored for the Americans, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 22 shots in regulation and three more in OT.
The already ripe rivalry took on an added intensity with the cross-border animosity following President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and talk of creating Canada the 51st U.S. state. Trump called the American team Thursday morning to wish it well, then turned to Truth Social to poke Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau with more annexation chatter.
The political backdrop combined with the standard of the round-robin game, which america won 3-1 on Saturday, to bring the atmosphere of a Stanley Cup Final or Olympic gold medal game to the TD Garden.Fans of their team jerseys waved flags, shouted for his or her countrymen and continued the ritual booing of the opposing national anthem that has develop into an nightly undercard for what most agree has been top-of-the-line international hockey competitions in a long time.
The American fans chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” to spur on the house team; within the third period, a cheer of “Johnny Hockey! Johnny Hockey!” reminded the players that they were playing for the memory of former Boston College and Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed by a drunk driver while bicycling in Recent Jersey at his sister’s wedding last summer.
More coming.
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