NHL
Connor McDavid won the game for Canada at 8:18 in overtime.
Canada is holding onto its hockey crown.
In one of the most anticipated hockey games in decades, it was Team Canada who emerged victorious in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship against Team USA — with Connor McDavid scoring the winning goal at 8:18 in overtime to close out a 3-2 win at TD Garden.
McDavid’s game-winner capped off a showdown for the ages, with Team USA coming up just short in its efforts to supplant Canada on hockey’s highest stage.
It didn’t take much for a spirited crowd to set the tone ahead of puck drop on Causeway Street — with both US and Canadian fans bellowing their respective anthems and creating a cacophony of cheers within Boston’s barn.
An unrelenting barrage of “USA!” chants quieted down just 4:48 into the game, with Canada pivot Nathan MacKinnon drawing first blood with a wrister from the high slot that slipped past US netminder Connor Hellebuyck.
The Americans responded later in the frame, with proven pugilist Brady Tkachuk returning to the lineup from a lower-body injury and punching his name on the scoresheet. The Senators power forward and Boston University product knotted the game up at 1-1 with 3:08 left in the first — driving to the netfront and tucking an offering from Auston Matthews past Jordan Binnington.
TD Garden’s speakers blared “Free Bird” again at 7:32 in the second.
Defenseman Jake Sanderson — slotting in for an injured Charlie McAvoy — gave his team its first lead of the night, gathering a rebound off a Matthews attempt to finding twine to make it a 2-1 game.
But Sam Bennett — a player prone to making hockey fans at TD Garden miserable — responded before the end of the middle frame.
After Mitch Marner intercepted a pass from USA defenseman Adam Fox, the Leafs forward dished the biscuit to Bennett, who promptly roofed an offering past Hellebuyck to knot the game up again entering the final period of play.
For all of the skill and firepower present on both rosters, the third period was largely a defensive stalemate, with timely stops by netminders and unheralded blueliners like Jaccob Slavin blocking shots keeping the contest tied.
A late surge from Canada could not determine a winner, forcing a sudden-death overtime to decide the title.
In a sight familiar to many Bruins fans, several game-saving stops from Binnington kept Canada in the contest, with the Blues goalie robbing both Matthews and Brady Tkachuk minutes into overtime.
Binnington’s efforts kept his team off the mat, with a lurking McDavid firing a puck past Hellebuyck just before the midway point of OT to capture the victory for Canada.
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