BOSTON (AP) — When they played “O Canada” for the second time, there were no American fans left in the arena to boo.
Instead, the Canadian team stood at the blue line, arm in arm, player and coach, wearing their championship hats while the maple leaf flag was lowered behind the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy and the national anthem reverberated across the Americans' home ice. The fans who remained, many of them in their red Team Canada jerseys, sang along.
Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States on Thursday night as the North American rivals turned what had been a tune-up for the 2026 Olympics into a geopolitical brawl over anthems and annexation as much as international hockey supremacy.
Or, to put it another way: It was the 51st U.S. state 3, Canada’s 11th province 2.
“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted on X in a cross-border callback to President Donald Trump's chatter about turning one of the United States' closest allies into the 51st state.
”A lot of stuff going on with Canada and the USA right now, and us playing against each other was kind of a perfect storm for our sport," said Nathan MacKinnon, who was selected the MVP of the new tournament with four goals in four games. “It was much more popular than even we would have imagined. It was getting so much attention from our whole continent.”
Jordan Binnington stopped 31 shots — including the last 20 in a row — on the same ice where he helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup as a rookie five years ago. MacKinnon and Sam Bennett also scored for Canada, which made it 2-2 in the second period and then played a scoreless third.
After a flurry of saves by Binnington early in the overtime, Canada gained a faceoff in the U.S. zone and Mitch Marner got the puck along the boards before popping it into the center to McDavid for the winner. The Canadians poured over the boards to celebrate, shook hands with the vanquished Americans, and then took turns skating with the never-before-awarded trophy.
“Just to see the reaction. Just to know what it means to us. I know it’s just a quick tournament, and it’s not an Olympic gold medal or anything like that, but it means the world to our group, as you can see,” McDavid said.
“I hope (the new fans) love it,” he said. “It’s a great game, it’s a great sport and I hope we put on a good show these last couple days and gained some fans, ultimately. You can’t ask for a better show than that.”
Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson scored for the Americans, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 22 shots in regulation and three more in OT. The U.S. has lost all but one game against Canada in best-on-best international play dating to the preliminaries of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics; the lone victory was in the 4 Nations round-robin, a game so good it turned Thursday's sequel into one of the most anticipated international hockey events in decades.
“I think guys that are at home watching this, I’m hoping they’re wanting a piece of it," U.S. forward Dylan Larkin said. "This grew the game really well, but I hope it pushes guys to want a piece of this and then the next generation that got to watch this, they’re going to watch the Olympics next year and hopefully there’s a different outcome.”
The already ripe rivalry between the two North American hockey powers took on an added intensity during the tournament following Trump’s tariff threats and talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state. Trump called the American team Thursday morning to wish it well, then turned to Truth Social to take a poke at “Governor Trudeau.”
The political backdrop combined with the quality of the round-robin game, which the United States won 3-1 on Saturday, to bring the atmosphere of a Stanley Cup Final or Olympic gold medal game to the TD Garden.
Fans in their team jerseys waved flags, shouted for their countrymen and continued the ritual booing of the opposing national anthem that has become an nightly undercard for a tournament that returned the NHL's stars to the international scene after missing the last two Winter Games.
The pregame hype video was a callback to the 1980 Olympics, when the undermanned U.S. team upset the powerful Soviet machine in the midst of the Cold War. “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hero and honorary U.S. captain Mike Eruzione wore a Johnny Gaudreau jersey to honor the memory of former Boston College and Calgary Flames star who was killed by a drunk driver while bicycling in New Jersey at his sister’s wedding last summer.
The American fans chanted “Johnny Hockey!” to spur their team on, and broke into frequent cheers of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” — just like in Lake Placid.
But this time it was the team in red that came away with the win.
“We wanted this one,” Canada forward Mark Stone said. “You’ve got 40 million Canadians, sitting at home, and you feel the energy. Anytime you have the chance to play for our country, or the flag on our chest, it’s a special, special feeling. ... It brings us together. And just glad we got to get this one.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
United States goalie Connor Hellebuyck, left, gives up a goal to Canada's Nathan MacKinnon, as Canada's Sidney Crosby (87) looks on, during the first period of the 4 Nations Face-Off championship hockey game, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
