By his own admission, Connor McDavid didn't play well in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off. But when the moment called for greatness, McDavid delivered.
Eight minutes into overtime, the two biggest stars for Canada and the United States faced off in the American zone: McDavid versus Auston Matthews. McDavid came up with the puck and, a few seconds later, Matthews left him alone in the slot. That's when his Toronto Maple Leafs teammate, Mitch Marner, slipped a pass just out of Matthews' reach to McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers' superstar fired the puck into the top corner.
"I was not very good all night," said McDavid to ESPN after the game. "All that was going through my mind was just keep going. I struggled all night but these guys played great and we just found a way."
"I just hope Canada's proud"
It could be considered a passing of the torch moment from Sidney Crosby to McDavid. Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime in 2010 at the Olympics; McDavid came through in overtime in 2025.
February 28th 2010 / Febuary 20th 2025. pic.twitter.com/TE3msKD6Fd
— Dyl (@dhockey13) February 21, 2025
Of course, the 4 Nations Face-Off doesn't quite have the same cachet as the Olympics. It was a short tournament featuring just four countries with no history behind it and no history ahead of it either, with the NHL announcing that they instead plan to bring back the World Cup of Hockey in the future. Some of the best players in the world, like Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak, and Martin Necas unable to participate, stretching the meaning of "best on best."
And yet, the players clearly cared deeply about representing their respective countries to the best of their abilities. As a result, the action on the ice was fast-paced and tremendously entertaining.
On top of that, Thursday's game between Canada and the U.S. took on added meaning given the political context off the ice. President Donald Trump's continued threats to Canada's sovereignty led to Canadian fans booing the American national anthem early in the tournament. Then the general manager of Team USA went on Fox News and said he would "love it" if Trump came to the game.
This culminated in Trump calling Team USA prior to the game, where he reportedly repeated his rhetoric about making Canada the "51st state." Many American players crowed about the call, with defenceman Noah Hanifin even saying he hoped the team would win the game "for Trump."
Within that context, a game that could have been a pure exhibition match with no more importance than it being a warm-up for the 2026 Olympics became about national identity.
"I just hope Canada's proud," said head coach Jon Cooper. "Because every player in that room is proud to be a Canadian. We needed a win. Not only our team but Canada needed a win. The players bared that on their shoulders and they took it seriously. This one was different. This wasn't a win for themselves. This was a win for 40+ million people. The guys knew it and they delivered."
In the wake of the victory, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a simple political message: "You can't take our country — and you can't take our game."
You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 21, 2025
MacKinnon, Marner, Bennett, and Binnington provided their share of heroics
The outcome of the game repeatedly hung in the balance on Thursday night.
Nathan MacKinnon took his share of the torch, as he was deservedly named the most valuable player of the tournament. He opened the scoring five minutes into the first period to give Canada the early lead.
MacKinnon took a pass from Thomas Harley, who was only in the game because Josh Morrissey was out with an illness, and rotated up to the point before firing a perfectly accurate dart as if he had just been promised meatloaf. With Sam Reinhart setting the screen, Connor Hellebuyck never even saw the puck before it was past him into the top corner.
The U.S. replied before the end of the first when no one picked up Brady Tkachuk in front of the net. Matthews' wraparound attempt rolled off his stick but went right to Tkachuk, who chipped it past Jordan Binnington.
It was a rollercoaster game for Binnington, who spilled out rebounds and scrambled around his crease, even ending up backwards in his own net on multiple occasions. Somehow, he mostly kept the puck out of his net, even if his saves looked unorthodox and were nerve-wracking for Canadian fans watching the game.
Still, Binnington got burned once more on a big rebound in the second period. The puck came out to Matthews and his pass attempt deflected to Jake Sanderson in the slot. With Binnington slow to get square, Sanderson had a wide-open net to give the U.S. the 2-1 lead.
Canada pushed back hard but missed opportunities threatened to haunt them, like a wasted power play in which American forward Jack Eichel broke his stick, giving Canada what was essentially a 5-on-3, only for MacKinnon to force a pass directly into Eichel's skates. Then there was the open net for Crosby off a MacKinnon rebound that was cleared away at the last moment by defenceman Jaccob Slavin to save a goal.
With six minutes left in the second period, however, Mitch Marner and Sam Bennett stepped up with a gorgeous goal to knot the game at 2-2.
Bennett stole the puck from former Canuck J.T. Miller in the neutral zone and handed it to Marner on the counter-attack. Marner cut into the middle to force the defenceman to the inside, then swiveled to send a slip pass to Bennett on the left wing. Bennett had a free path to the net and made no mistake, snapping the puck top shelf over Hellebuyck's shoulder.
With neither team able to break the draw in the third period, the game went to overtime, where Binnington came up with a couple of enormous saves to give Canada a chance to win. First, he robbed Matthews in tight three minutes into the extra frame. A couple of minutes later, he lunged to his left on a scramble to snag a shot from Brady Tkachuk with his glove.
The clutch saves provided vindication for his selection to Team Canada, a selection that was repeatedly questioned given his .897 save percentage in the NHL this season — 11th among the 13 Canadian goaltenders who have played at least 20 games this season. The three Canadian goaltenders with the best save percentage this season — Logan Thompson, Darcy Kuemper, and Mackenzie Blackwood — were all left off the roster.
But Binnington came up with the big saves when Canada needed them giving McDavid the opportunity to be the overtime hero. When McDavid was named the player of the game, the honour seemed misplaced, as Binnington was the one who made it possible for McDavid to score the game-winning goal.
One Canuck will return to Vancouver with a medal
While the only two Canucks played at the 4 Nations Face-Off — Elias Pettersson and Kevin Lankinen — were eliminated from the tournament in the round-robin stage, one Canuck will come back a winner: head coach Rick Tocchet.
Tocchet was an assistant coach for Team Canada alongside Cooper. It's not his first time winning an international championship, as he won two Canada Cups for Team Canada as a player in 1987 and 1991.
The 1987 Canada Cup featured a best-of-three final between Canada and the Soviet Union which is still considered some of the best hockey ever played in international competition. As much the focus was on Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky playing together, Tocchet chipped in two points in the deciding third game: a goal and an assist.
1991 saw the last ever Canada Cup, with Canada sweeping the best-of-three final against Team USA.
Now Tocchet can add another medal to his mantle.
