The U.S. men’s hockey team beat Canada in a best-on-best tournament game for the first time in 15 years, rallying for a 3-1 victory in 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin play in Montreal.
It ended Sidney Crosby’s 26-game win streak in a Canada jersey in tournament play, a run that included the Olympics (2010, 2014), World Championship (2015), the World Cup (2016, the most recent best-on-best tournament) and against Sweden to open the 4 Nations Face-Off on Wednesday.
Crosby’s last international tournament loss was also the last time the U.S. beat Canada in a best-on-best tournament: Feb. 21, 2010, in group play at the Vancouver Olympics (Martin Brodeur’s final game played for Canada). Crosby did play in a 2016 World Cup pre-tournament exhibition loss to the U.S.
Saturday’s game began with three fights in the first nine seconds: Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel, then Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett and finally J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko.
Brady Tkachuk said “it just happened pretty organically.”
“Right when we found out the starting lineup, (Matthew Tkachuk) said he wanted a piece of him, then (I) coordinated with Benny there,” Brady Tkachuk said on ABC.
Connor McDavid opened the scoring later in the first period, after which the Americans got goals from Jake Guentzel (two, including an empty-netter) and Dylan Larkin. All three could make their Olympic debuts in 2026 with NHL players expected to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014.
“Two passionate teams,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said of the three fights. “I mean it’s been a long time waiting, 10 years. These guys have waited for this. You can tell this is not an All-Star Game. This is a battle of the best of the best.”
The Tkachuks’ dad, Keith, fought Claude Lemieux in a USA-Canada game at the 1996 World Cup.
Next year, the Tkachuk family can be the first to have a father and son on U.S. Olympic hockey teams in the NHL participation era. Keith Tkachuk played in the first three Olympics with NHL players in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
The last set of brothers to make the same U.S. Olympic hockey team were Derian and Kevin Hatcher in 1998. Both the Tkachuk and the Hughes families could have brothers at the Milan Cortina Games.
The U.S. clinched a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday in Boston.
Canada will fill the other spot if it beats Finland in regulation on Monday or with an overtime win if Sweden doesn’t beat the U.S. in regulation.
Canada is 3-0 against the U.S. in elimination games at the Olympics in the NHL era — wins in the final in 2002, the final in 2010 and the semifinals in 2014.
Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid will suit up for Canada, one year before NHL players are expected to return to the Olympics.
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