Canada and the USA took on each other one last time in the Four Nations tournament championship game Thursday night. It was sure to be a good one as both teams are stacked head-to-toe with talent. Canada would get their revenge as they would pull out a 3-2 win in overtime. Both teams had great chances all night long, but Canada would ultimately come out on top. Back to regular-season hockey!
Nathan MacKinnon gave Canada a 1-0 lead at the 4:48 mark of the first period. He put a wrist shot over the right shoulder of USA’s goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. There was heavy traffic in front of him, which made it hard to track the puck. Thomas Harley and Sam Reinhart collected assists.
Brady Tkachuk tied the game up at one at the 16:52 mark of the first period. Auston Matthews missed on his wrap-around attempt but the puck found Tkachuk in front of the net and he put a wrist shot past the blocker of Canada’s goaltender Jordan Binnington. Matthews tallied the lonely assists.
Jake Sanderson gave the USA a 2-1 lead at the 7:32 mark of the second period. There was heavy traffic in front of Binnington and Sanderson took advantage of him losing the puck. He put a snapshot into the wide-open net right side. Matthews and Zach Werenski were given assists.
Canada would get the game’s first and only power play at the 8:57 mark of the second period as Vincent Trocheck was called for tripping. The USA did a great job of blocking shots and clearing the puck when given the opportunity. They also had a great chance while shorthanded on a two-on-one.
Sam Bennett tied the game up at two at the 14:00 mark of the second period. He put a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Hellebuyck. A great pass by Mitch Marner set him up. Marner received the only assist.
No goals or penalties occurred in the third period. The game would then go to a five-on-five 20-minute overtime period.
Connor McDavid won the game for Canada at the 8:18 mark of the overtime period. He was left all alone in the slot and he put a wrist shot past Hellebuyck. This play was set up by another great pass by Marner. Marner and Cale Makar collected assists.
Canada went 0 for 1 on the power play as the USA managed to kill it off. The USA didn’t receive any man advantages.
Both goaltenders kept their team in the game all night long. Hellebuyck saved 24 of 27 shots, giving him a .889 save percentage. Binnington had to stand on his head in overtime to keep the game going. He saved 31 of 33 shots, giving him a .939 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
MacKinnon (4) Assists: Harley (1), Reinhart (4)
B. Tkachuk (3) Assists: Matthews (2)
2nd Period:
Sanderson (1) Assists: Matthews (3), Werenski (6)
Bennett (1) Assists: Marner (1)
3rd Period:
No goals
Overtime:
McDavid (3) Assists: Marner (2), Makar (1)
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