Over the days between February 12 and the 20, the NHL’s best Swedish, Finnish, Canadian, and American players battled it out in the Four Nations Face Off, marking the first time since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 that NHL players have played for their home countries. This tournament saw three fights in nine seconds, two overtimes, lots of pushing and shoving, and drew in 10.1 million views on one game alone. Now that a champion has been crowned, and the season has begun once again, the last step is to begin the recap of the successful first-year tournament.
Play began on Wednesday, February 12 between Sweden and Canada inside the Bell Centré in Montreal. Nathan MacKinnon scored the first goal of the tournament 55 seconds into the inaugural game on the power play. Following the score, it became more of a back and forth game. “I felt the energy of the crowd, them being on our side, obviously it powered us through the game,” Canadian defenseman Drew Doughty shared in a postgame press conference. The Canadians took the first game of the tournament with a final score of 4-3 in overtime as Mitch Marner, a Toronto Maple Leaf Forward, scored the game winner with 3:54 left in the extra time frame.
The next day, the United States and Finland took the ice in Québec. Finland struck first with a short side goal from Sabres D-Man Henri Jokiharju. However, that would be the only goal Finland scored, as USA responded with six unanswered goals, helping them rout the Finnish. Both Matthew and Brady Tkachuck notched two goals in the United States win over the Fins.
All four teams got a day break before they were all back in action on Saturday. Sweden battled Finland at one o’clock to start off the Saturday slate. Mika Zibanejad tallied the first goal of the 2006 Olympic Gold Medal rematch for Sweden before Finland would respond with back to back goals of their own from Anton Lundell and Mikko Rantanen. Sweden retook the lead in the 2nd Period with goals five minutes apart from each other, but the lead would be short lived, as Finland tied the game with 3 minutes left in the 2nd. No goals in the 3rd sent the game into overtime where Finnish Forward Mikael Granlund went coast-to-coast and scored the game winner to beat Sweden 4-3. “It’s always great to beat Sweden,” Granlund would say in a post game interview with CBS “Those games are fun to play. There’s so many people in Finland, in Sweden to watch these games. It’s great to come [out] on top.”
Hours later, hockey rivals clashed once again. USA and Canada took the ice with two very different crowd reactions. Due to Bell Centré being in the heart of one of Canada’s premier cities, the primarily Canadian crowd did not favor the U.S one bit. This showed during the United States National Anthem, as the Canada crowd booed during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner. This added to the tension and excitement of the battle between the two North American teams. Canada was without Norris Trophy Winner Cale Makar for this game due to illness. In his place, a young Thomas Harley stepped up. After all the pre-game festivities finished, the puck was finally dropped. However, there was no hockey played. Nine seconds into the game, three fights took place, with both Tkachuck brothers being involved in back-to-back fights with Brandon Hagel and Sam Bennett. J.T. Miller joined in the fun seconds later with Colton Parayko. Play eventually settled in but it was not long before it would pick back up as Connor McDavid scored the first goal of the game for Team Canada. The red and white struggled to find the back of the net for the rest of the night, but the same could not be said for the red, white, and blue. Jake Guentzul responded five minutes later for Team USA to tie the game at one, which would end the scoring of the 1st Period. Late in the 2nd Period, Red Wings Captain Dylan Larkin would strike to give USA the lead. America would hold the lead for the rest of the game. Jake Guentzul tallied an empty net goal to seal the deal and give the U.S. a 3-1 victory over Canada. With that win, USA would be the first team to be sent to the Four Nations Championship Game.
Another day break would take place before all teams would be back in action on President’s Day. Now at Boston’s TD Garden, Canada and Finland battled at 1 p.m. to start off the holiday. Canada struck three times in the 1st Period with goals from Mackinnon, Point, and McDavid, and one more time in the 2nd Period from Mackinnon. Finland tried to make a comeback, as they scored three goals of their own in the 3rd from Lindell and Granlund, but it wasn’t enough, as Canada won with a final score of 5-3. Due to Canada’s win, they cemented their place in the Four Nations Championship Game and were set for a rematch against the USA.
Sweden and the United States followed soon after the Fins and Candians. This game was the first time that the Americans had the home crowd rallying around them. Injuries plagued Team USA coming into the game against the Swedes, as Captain of the Americans and the Toronto Maple Leafs Austin Matthews was sidelined along with Matthew Thachuck. Chris Kreider was inserted into the lineup for the U.S. and started off hot. The Rangers Forward would score in under a minute and send the American crowd into a frenzy. However, that would be all she wrote of the United States offense, as Sweden scored back-to-back goals following the Kreider Goal and beat the U.S. 2-1.
All four teams played all four teams, which meant that the finale, the coup de grâce, the championship game, needed to be played. Canada vs. USA part two took place on the United States turf. America saw the returns of key players like Matthews and Tkachuck. However, they lost Charlie McAvoy and Kyle Connor. Canada also earned back a key player in Cale Makar but fell short another defensemen, as Josh Morrissey would not be available. United States fans booed the Canadian National Anthem, and then the puck dropped. Game started off aggressive but with no fighting. Solid back and forth took place, before Nathan Mackinnon found the back of the net five minutes in. Over ten minutes of more intense hockey took place before the United States responded as Brady Tkachuck tallied a cheeky rebound to give the red, white, and blue faithful something to cheer about. 2nd Period felt more of the same but with a flip-flopped scoring pattern. Jake Sanderson struck for Team USA handing them a 2-1 lead. Sam Bennett found the back of the net seven minutes later to tie the game up once more. No change in the third sent this International Tournament Final into sudden death. Canada’s Jordan Binnington channeled his Game 7 self for the 8 of 20 minutes of overtime hockey played, stopping all of USA’s attempts at being crowned champion. Then, it happened. The puck was dropped in the USA’s zone after a stoppage. It was won forward by Canada and shot around the boards by McDavid. Devon Toews would send it back around for Marner on the corner, who saw Conner McDavid wide open after Matthews collapsed on him. He gave the centering pass, and that’s all she wrote. McDavid scored, Canada won, giving déjà vu to the 2010 Olympics. Sidney Crosby raised the trophy, making it official that Canada is the inaugural Four Nations Face-Off Champions
An almost two week tournament saw heartbreak, joy, hatred, and, above all else, excitement. It served as a return to international play for many players and a re-introduction into the iconic rivalries of the past. The Four Nations Face-Off was a success. It drew in numbers that couldn’t tell the full story of how perfect this competition was. Now we are all asking, could there be another tournament in the future?