Team Canada stood on guard for thee on Thursday night.
That sigh of relief you heard just after 11 p.m. came from across this hockey-crazed country after Team Canada scored a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory to win the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off over Team USA in Boston.
Connor McDavid, the best player in the world, fired home the winner at 8:18 of OT to secure the title for Canada.
“Just to see the reaction. Just to know what it means to us,” McDavid said. “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. Everybody battled so hard all week. It was special.”
Sam Bennett and Nathan MacKinnon scored in regulation for Canada.
It was no surprise this game had a storybook ending.
Canada and the United States were carrying the weight of the country on their shoulders. This was an epic battle with two good teams going toe-to-toe to try to win the title.
There were no fights in the first nine seconds this time — or at all — but that didn’t hamper this game one bit. The pace was frantic and this game lived up to its billing in every way.
This tourney was fantastic from start to finish.
OUR GAME
This was the 16th time in NHL tournament history that Canada has faced the United States.
Canada held a 10-4-1 record against the United States coming into this one.
The Canadians had 14 players with Stanley Cup rings and the Americans only had three. Many talked about treating it like a Game 7 but Canada had seven players with that experience and the USA only one.
Just for good measure, two players who play for Ottawa Senators, Canada’s capital, gave the Americans a 2-1 lead before Bennett tied it 2-2 heading into the third.
Defenceman Jake Sanderson jumped on a loose rebound in front and fired it by Binnington at 7:32 of the second. Not bad a last-minute addition that was brought in because of an injury to Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes.
“I kind of just blacked out. Great play from the guys to get the puck to the net, and I think I just got lucky there,” said Sanderson.
Brady Tkachuk brought the place to life late in the first with his third goal of the tourney. He went to the front of the net and chipped a pass by Auston Matthews by Binnington on the stick side at 16:52 to tie it up 1-1.
“I was very lucky to play with a lot of great players, and I play with a lot of great players back in Ottaw,” Brady said. “I just wanted to take advantage of every opportunity that I had here. All I care about is team success.”
Up until then, it had been a tepid start for the Americans but that came after Sullivan moved the Tkachuk brothers to a line with Matthews and moved Jack Eichel to another unit.
Matthew Tkachuk didn’t finish the game healthy.
ANOTHER MIRACLE
The United States viewed this night as the most significant hockey game on home ice since the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid.
That’s why Kurt Russell’s reenactment in the movie Miracle of coach Herb Brooks’ speech was played in the arena bowl before the game. 1980 hero Mike Eruzione was introduced as the honorary American captain in a pre-game ceremony wearing the late Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13.
Eruzione and fellow 1980 Olympic hero Rob McClanahan addressed the U.S. team at their dinner before the tourney started in Montreal. Gaudreau’s father, Guy, was also there with Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Modano because GM Bill Guerin wanted people who have paved the way.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this group,” Matthews said. “I thought we gave 10 percent. It was definitely special. It could have gone either way. It was playoff hockey.”
The Americans viewed this as an opportunity to show the country is the best hockey nation in the world and that title no longer belongs to Canada. This was, after all, best-on-best.
“We wanted this one,” said Canadian winger Mark Stone. “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 get to get the flag on our chest. It’s a special, special feeling. It’s been hockey. That’s s what we do, right? It brings us together. And just glad we got to get this one.”
SAVE THE DAY
All eyes were on the goaltenders, Jordan Binnington vs. Connor Hellebuyck.
Binnington has looked shaky on some of the goals he gave up during this tourney, while Hellebuyck was rock-solid. Both gave their clubs a chance to win and that’s all anybody wanted.
Bennett scored his first goal of the tourney with six minutes left in the second period, and Hellebuyck had no chance. Bennett was in on an odd-man rush and chipped it over top of Hellebuyck.
The Canadians did a good job pushing the pace in the first. Twice, the club crashed the crease and forced Hellebuyck to make big stops. He had words with the officials after the second incident.
Hellebuyck gave up an ugly one on the fourth shot he faced. MacKinnon fired a shot from the top of the zone that beat Hellebuyck on the stick side only 4:46 into the first period.
Defenceman Josh Morrissey was a late scratch with illness and that meant that Thomas Harley was inserted. The United States made one change by inserting Chris Kreider in place of Kyle Connor.