Few games have ever felt as high stakes as USA and Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship. So naturally, it took the best player of a generation to end it.
Connor McDavid etched his name in Canadian hockey history with a golden goal Thursday in Boston, winning the game 3-2 in overtime to secure a tournament title that felt bigger than anything ever played during an All-Star break. After 68 minutes of intense, high-level play, it took just one Team USA defensive lapse for Canada to win it.
The Americans left McDavid alone in front of the net, and he put in the winner 8:18 into the extra period. Cue the kind of celebration you typically see at the Olympics or Stanley Cup Finals.
It had been a quiet game up to that point for McDavid, who credited his teammates for getting them there on the ESPN broadcast:
“I was not very good all night. All that was going through my mind was keep going. I struggled all night, but these guys played great and we just found a way.”
How big of a moment was this for Canada, not just the team but the country? Prime minister Justin Trudeau posted a fairly direct statement aimed at the U.S. immediately after the game, amid tensions over U.S. president Donald Trumpâs repeated goads over stripping Canada of its sovereignty and making it the 51st American state.
You canât take our country â and you canât take our game.
â Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 21, 2025
McDavid’s goal was reminiscent of the golden goal Canadian teammate Sidney Crosby scored 15 years earlier in the gold medal match of the 2010 Olympics. With national pride on the line, every player was invested Thursday night, and Canada had only survived to that point because of an unreal performance by goaltender Jordan Binnington in overtime.
The first two periods were both even, with each team notching a goal in each frame. Nathan MacKinnon, later named MVP of the tournament, got Canada on the board with his fourth goal of the tournament, most of any player, but USA’s Brady Tkachuk answered back.
Tkachuk, who missed practice Wednesday with an illness, contributed a lot more than a goal, though. He was arguably the Americans’ most physical player, delivering multiple big-time hits and setting the tone for the game.
Team USA took the lead in the second period on a Jake Sanderson goal, and then Sam Bennett tied it right back.
There was no scoring in the third period, as strong goaltending and high-effort defending took over. Both countries waited for that one last punch, but the high stakes naturally had to last until there was a tournament-winning golden goal on the line.
Even the overtime rules reflected how much each team wanted the win, as there was no three-on-three hockey or a shootout. Just normal, sudden-death hockey, until one team wins.
The USA-Canada 4 Nations final capped off a massively successful event
The game was a dead-even pick ’em at BetMGM, with both nations carrying -110 odds entering the game. Canada was the pre-tournament favorite, but their 3-1 loss to the U.S. left a mark on how the rest of the tournament played out.
Had the tournament been decided on that game, it would have been enough. The discontent between the two teams, amid worsening political relations between their two governments, was palpable before the game and crystallized with three fights in the first nine seconds.
Canada went on to strike first with a McDavid goal, but the U.S. went on to score in every period for a thrilling 3-1 win. The loss didn’t stop Canada from making the final, thanks to wins over Sweden and Finland, setting up a winner-take-all matchup with all the pressure of an Olympic final. Both players and fans completely latched their emotions to a completely new tournament, and the result was some top-tier hockey in the middle of the NHL season.
In an age where every major sports league is fretting over what to do during its All-Star break, the NHL struck gold so hard it is bound to inspire copycats. As it turns out, national pride is one heck of a motivator.
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