Connor McDavid scored in overtime to lift Canada over the U.S. 3-2 to win the 4 Nations Face-Off, a prelude to the NHL’s expected return to the Olympics in 2026.
McDavid scored 8 minutes and 18 seconds into overtime, beating U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck in the tournament final at Boston’s TD Garden.
McDavid, a three-time Hart Trophy winner as the NHL MVP with the Edmonton Oilers, is the most accomplished active player yet to participate in the Olympics. He should get his chance next year at the Milan Cortina Games.
“I know it’s just a quick tournament,” McDavid said on ESPN of the nine-day 4 Nations event that also included Sweden and Finland. “It’s not an Olympic gold medal or anything like that, but it means the world to our group.”
The teams were tied 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 after the second. Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett scored the early goals for Canada, while Brady Tkachuk and 2022 Olympian Jake Sanderson did for the U.S.
Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington made six saves in OT in a clutch performance. Goaltending had been considered Canada’s weakness going into the tournament.
Thursday marked the first senior men’s hockey tournament final between the rivals since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when Sidney Crosby’s goal 7:40 into overtime gave Canada home gold, also by a 3-2 score.
Canada had won 17 consecutive games in best-on-best tournaments — including Olympic finals in 2010 and 2014 — before the U.S. prevailed 3-1 in 4 Nations round-robin play last Saturday in Montreal.
The last time the U.S. beat Canada in a major tournament final was the 1996 World Cup, two years before the NHL participated in the Olympics for the first time.
Next year, NHL players are expected to participate in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The U.S. has not won a men’s hockey medal at an Olympics with NHL players held outside of North America (Nagano 1998, Torino 2006, Sochi 2014).
The next major men’s hockey tournament is the IIHF World Championship in May co-hosted by Sweden and Denmark.
The U.S. and Canada typically have world championship rosters with a majority — if not all — NHL players, though not all of the best given the tournament occurs during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Czechia, which was not part of the 4 Nations Face-Off, is the reigning world champion.
The U.S. last won silver at a standalone world championship in 1950 and last won gold in 1933. It is 0-12 in world championship semifinals since the IIHF reinstituted a bracketed playoff round in 1992.
Kendall Coyne Schofield bids for her fourth Olympic hockey team, and first as a mom.
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