After the United States beat Canada 3-1 in round-robin play, the two bitter rivals meet again in the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship Game in Boston
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1 New Update
Canada 2, USA 2 in overtime
The United States is taking on Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship Game at TD Garden in Boston.
Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring for Canada early in the first period, firing a wrister through traffic and beating Connor Hellebuyck up high. Team USA tied the game late in the first after Brady Tkachuk cleaned up an Auston Matthews wraparound.
The United States took the lead near the midway point of the second period as Jake Sanderson flicked in a rebound to cap off a hectic sequence. Canada equalized with six minutes remaining in the second on an accurate Sam Bennett shot from close range, assisted by Mitch Marner.
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The entire crowd at TD Garden was on its feet as the players took the ice for overtime.
The entire lower bowl is still standing as overtime begins. Here we go!
Overtime is underway!
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OT 20:00 – United States 2, Canada 2
The puck drops and sudden death begins! Hold onto your seats, this is going to be thrilling!
Both goalies impressing
Connor Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington both made big saves when called upon in the third period.
The duo combined for 13 saves in the final 20 minutes of regulation, stepping up in clutch time.
It’s almost unfair that one of them has to concede what will be a heartbreaking goal here in overtime.
Your views on Canada-United States
Pgad: Auston Matthews doing his best John Cena imitation.
Bennett J: Brock Faber is the best righthanded defenseman in the world.
Co S: Whatever the outcome, the days of Canada owning hockey are over for good.
Perry H: Jack Hughes getting manhandled.
If you subscribe to The Athletic, you can get involved by leaving a comment in the ‘Discuss’ tab that you can see at the top of your webpage or app.
Let us know who you’ve got as the overtime goal scorer!
Our OT GWG predictions
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We’ve assembled our predictions for who we think will score the winning goal in overtime tonight.
- Josh Yohe: Nathan MacKinnon
- Mark Lazerus: Dylan Larkin
- Max Bultman: Jake Guentzel
- Scott Wheeler: Sidney Crosby
- Michael Dominski: Brady Tkachuk
USA and Canada’s history in overtime
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Canada has a 7-1 record in overtime games at NHL international tournaments, while the United States is 0-1.
Past overtime goal scorers for Canada:
- Mitch Marner
- Vincent Lecavalier
- Steve Yzerman (vs. USA)
- Theo Fleury
- Mario Lemieux
- Mike Bossy
- Darryl Sittler
In addition, Canadian forward Nathan MacKinnon scored an OT goal for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Overtime history
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There have been four overtime games in the championship round of previous NHL international tournaments:
- Game 2 of 1976 Canada Cup
- Game 1 of 1987 Canada Cup
- Game 2 of 1987 Canada Cup (2 OT)
- Game 1 of 1996 World Cup of Hockey
The only time the championship was clinched with an overtime goal was in 1976, by Canada’s Darryl Sittler. One player will join Sittler with that distinction tonight.
Stats after third period
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Canada 2, United States 2
- Shots on goal: 24 – 27
- Shot attempts: 63 – 55
- Faceoff percentage: 50.9% – 49.2%
- Power plays: 0/1 – 0/0
- Hits: 24 – 27
- Blocked shots: 14 – 20
- Giveaways: 17 – 19
This game deserved overtime
Doesn’t get much better than this. I felt like Canada was the better team in most of the third period, but as we know, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Or maybe it does. No matter who wins this game, this has been a great celebration of hockey and games like this are what help the game grow more than anything else.
Overtime rules
Unlike the round-robin stage of this tournament, which saw overtime played as 10 minutes of three-on-three before a shootout, tonight we’re using NHL playoff rules.
That means five-on-five like usual, for 20-minute periods until one team scores.
We’re headed to overtime!
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Sixty minutes isn’t enough to decide the winner here!
Overtime looming
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P3 0:06 – United States 2, Canada 2
Canada nearly wins it at the buzzer! Miller intercepts a pass in the U.S. crease, preventing McDavid from scoring a sure goal!
The U.S. has spent the last 30+ seconds clinging on for dear life.
P3 1:00 – United States 2, Canada 2
Eichel backhands a pass through Canada’s crease but no teammate is there to turn the puck home.
We’ve reached the final minute of regulation!
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P3 1:29 – United States 2, Canada 2
A long pass releases MacKinnon down the left wall. He turns towards goal and fires a dangerous shot, but Hellebuyck makes the stop.
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P3 2:45 – United States 2, Canada 2
Eichel leads a rush and looks for Boldy, but the chance passes Team USA by. Eichel likely would have been better off shooting.
The fans at TD Garden are chanting, “Johnny Hockey.”
Who will be the hero?
As Mike mentioned, there’s a good chance this one has reached the Next Goal Wins stage. Someone is going to have an all-time moment coming up here. So: who wants to be the hero?
P3 4:29 – United States 2, Canada 2
We’ve reached the final commercial break of the third period. Still no Matthew Tkachuk in this period. ESPN’s commentators have speculated that if the U.S. gets a late power play, we may see him on the ice, but as of now Team USA is without him.
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P3 5:00 – United States 2, Canada 2
We’re down to five minutes left in this one, nearing next goal wins territory.
