Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game 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 an geopolitical brawl over anthems and annexation as much as international hockey supremacy.
Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett also scored for Canada. Jordan Binnington made 25 saves in the first three periods and six more in the extra period on the same ice where he helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup 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…
