Boston There were no American spectators remaining in the arena to jeer when they finally played the Canadian national song for the second time.
Rather, the maple leaf flag was lowered behind the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy as the Canadian team stood at the blue line, arm in arm, with players, coaches, and staff donning their championship hats. Singing along were the remaining crowd, many of whom were wearing red Team Canada shirts.
The North American rivals turned what had been a prelude to the 2026 Olympics into a geopolitical battle over anthems and annexation as much as world hockey supremacy on Thursday night, with Connor McDavid scoring the game-winning goal at 8:18 of overtime to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States.
In other words, it was Canada’s eleventh province and the 51st state in the United States.
merely to observe the response. just to understand its significance to us. “As you can see, it means the world to our group, even though it’s just a short tournament and not an Olympic gold medal or anything,” McDavid said.
He remarked, “I hope (the new fans) love it.” It’s a fantastic sport and game, and I hope we’ve performed well over the past several days and won over some supporters. There is no finer spectacle than that one.
Sam Bennett and Nathan MacKinnon also scored for Canada. On the ice where he assisted the St. Louis Blues in winning the Stanley Cup five years prior as a rookie, Jordan Binnington had 25 stops in regulation and six more in the extra session.
The Americans’ goals came from Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson, while Connor Hellebuyck saved 22 saves in regular and three more in overtime.
The cross-border hostility that followed President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and remarks about declaring Canada the 51st U.S. state intensified the already ripe rivalry. After wishing the American team luck over the phone Thursday morning, Trump used Truth Social to nudge Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with additional annexation rhetoric.
The TD Garden was transformed into a Stanley Cup Final or Olympic gold medal game by the political context and the caliber of the round-robin match, which the United States won 3-1 on Saturday.
Fans wearing their team jerseys resumed the custom of jeering the opposing national song, which has become a nightly undercard for what most people say has been one of the greatest international hockey tournaments in decades. They also waved flags and chanted for their countrymen.
U-S-A was chanted by the American supporters! U-S-A! to support the home team; a Johnny Hockey cheer during the third period! The players were reminded by Johnny Hockey! that they were performing in honor of Johnny Gaudreau, a former Boston College and Calgary Flames star who was killed by an intoxicated motorist last summer while riding in New Jersey to attend his sister’s wedding.
A Miracle on Ice In a pregame ceremonial puck drop with his Canadian counterpart Wayne Gretzky, Olympic hero and honorary U.S. captain Mike Eruzione donned a Gaudreau jersey.
After 40 minutes, the score was 2-2, and it remained that way for the first eight minutes of overtime and the third quarter. The Canadians gained a faceoff in the U.S. zone after Binnington made a series of stops, and Mitch Marner got the puck along the boards before putting it in the center for McDavid.
McDavid stated, “I wasn’t very good all night.” My only thought was to keep moving forward. Even though I had trouble the entire night, these guys performed really well, and we managed to get through it.
— AP Sports Writer Jimmy Golen
