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Canada beats U.S. on Connor McDavid’s OT goal in 4 Nations Face-Off final

February 21, 2025

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer

BOSTON — When they got around to playing the Canadian national anthem 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 and staff wearing their championship hats, while the maple leaf flag was lowered behind the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy. The fans who remained, many of them in the 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.

“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.”

Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett also scored for Canada. Jordan Binnington made 25 saves in regulation and six more in the extra period on the same ice where he helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup as a rookie five years ago.

Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson scored for the Americans, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 22 shots in regulation and three more in OT.

The already ripe rivalry took on an added intensity with the cross-border animosity following President Donald 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 poke Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau with more annexation chatter.

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 what most agree has been one of the best international hockey competitions in decades.

The American fans chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” to spur on the home team; in the third period, a cheer of “John-ny Hock-ey! John-ny Hock-ey!” reminded the players that they were playing for the memory of former Boston College and Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed by a drunk driver while bicycling in New Jersey at his sister’s wedding last summer.

“Miracle on Ice” Olympic hero and honorary U.S. captain Mike Eruzione wore a Gaudreau jersey during a pregame ceremonial puck drop with Canadian counterpart Wayne Gretzky.

It was 2-2 after 40 minutes and it stayed that way in the third period and the first eight minutes of overtime. After a flurry of saves by Binnington, the Canadians gained a faceoff in the U.S. zone and Mitch Marner got the puck along the boards before popping it into the center for McDavid.

“I was not very good all night,” McDavid said. “All that was going through my mind was, ‘Keep going.’ I struggled all night, but these guys played great and we just found a way.”

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

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Canada beats U.S. on Connor McDavid’s OT goal in 4 Nations Face-Off final

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