Canada-USA meet in 4 Nations Championship

If the first matchup between Canada and America was a bar fight, the championship game will be an all-out battle.

The fisticuffs, trash talk and electric pace are a given, and this game has the makings of becoming the one that people remember the tournament for. Canada and America with all the chips on the table - Canada looking for revenge, and the USA trying to cement themselves as the top dogs - it should be a brilliant game.

Best-on-best came back with a bang, and waiting another eight years was identified by the big guns as too long to wait for the next competition. For years we were robbed of watching No. 87 and 97 compete together for their country on the biggest international stages. Adding Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar into the mix was viewed as the makings of a dynamic core four for Canada, and that can't be ignored.

Quinn Hughes won't be here, recovering from an injury before the tournament started. He is a tremendous talent, and probably the United States best defenseman, It's an advantage for Canada, especially with Makar healthy - a guy who is viewed as the league's No. 1 defenseman.

But the Americans aren't the underdogs in this matchup, it's Canada who is looking for revenge. The Tkachuk brothers - Brady and Matthew, play an in-your-face brand of hockey and on the biggest stage, they will be in the middle of everything. The boys sporting the red sweaters with a maple leaf, however, have a hungry group, led by a couple of Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia., boys and the best player in the world.

Sidney Crosby continues to turn back time, emerging as captain clutch again - at 37 years old. Jack Eichel is showing that he deserves to be mentioned in the conversation of the NHL's elite. This game was the one that every North American hockey fan wanted all along for the gold medal.

Connor Hellebuyck versus Jordan Binnington with everything on the line

The Tkachuk's and Eichel start up front for the Americans, with Jaccob Slavin and Brock Faber on the blueline. Canada has McDavid flanked by Brayden Point and Mark Stone, and the defence duo to start for Jon Cooper is Cale Makar and Devon Toews. There will be no fights off the opening draw tonight, but there will be fireworks at TD Garden tonight, no doubt.

With 3:59 off the clock, shots are 3-2 in favour of the visitors, and both teams are trading chances back and forth.

The crowd in the garden was chanting USA! USA! USA! But Canada struck first, with a beautiful snipe from No. 29 - MacKinnon. No. 48 Thomas Harley, and No. 13 Sam Reinhart drew the assists on the tally - as per TD Garden's announcer Steve Forni.

MacKinnon has been on fire all tournament, scoring when Canada needs it, using one of the league's dangerous shots. The Colorado Avalanche superstar has four goals through three games and half of a period. Canada wanted to answer back after their loss to the USA, and one of their best players finding the scoresheet early sets the tone.

Canada has made the necessary adjustments to get to the loose change that Hellebuyck gives out. Even the league's top dog has his flaws, and Canada has done tremendous work to take advantage of the little things. It's a different feeling in this game compared to the first game between the two.

Team USA didn't want to be held off the board for too long, and as you expected Brady Tkachuk tied up the game. Nearly 12 minutes after MacKinnon's goal, the combattants are knotted at 1-1. Every Habs fan's favourite player to hate, American captain Auston Matthews assisted the tally.

Tie game at intermission, both teams battled back and forth

Second and third Period

With 14:05 to go in the second frame, the teams remained tied 1-1, but the scoreboard doesn't quite tell the story. Binnington and Hellebuyck have made key saves to keep the score low. The Americans are trying to play their game against the Canadians and throw them off. Cooper's troops haven't abandoned their game plan, however, using their speed through the neutral zone to challenge the American defence.

It's been a heavy game, as expected, to start, but there have been no fisticuffs, though (Brady) Tkachuk has made his efforts.

The Senators captain, and one part of the heartbeat of the American got the ball rolling. His teammate, Jake Sanderson put the American's second on the board with a quick snapshot in the slot. Binnington got beat clean, but there was traffic in front, it was a hard work goal. Assists: Matthews second of the game, and Zach Werenski's sixth of the tournament.

Canada power play at 08:57, Vincent Trocheck gets the gate for tripping Sam Bennett.

Hellebuyck held the fort for the Americans, though Canada didn't exactly get the puck around the zone the way they had hoped. USA's defence did a great job blocking passing lanes and taking shots away.

Thank you, Mitch Marner. So that is something I never thought would come out of my mouth. But he made a beautiful headfake and no-look pass right onto a streaking Sam Bennett's tape. After chucking knuckles with Brady the first time around, Bennett answers back Brady's 2-1 marker to tie the game up again; he has provided Team Canada with a Tkachuk-like presence.

If Montreal could draft a player who plays the game like Bennett or Tkachuk, who can play in their top-six, that would be great. The gritty power game is lacking in the Habs lineup. An addition like that to the top six would be huge.

After 40 minutes, the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game is all tied up. The next goal could be the winner, in a winner-take-all game. The roof at TD Garden hasn't popped off the building yet, but with 20 minutes to go, I can't imagine the crowd will be anything resembling quiet, regardless of the outcome.

The crowd is going bananas to start the third - chanting USA repeatedly, but Canada doesn't look shaken. Perhaps Brad Marchand shared the ins and outs of TD Garden's crowd. There has been a noticeable decrease in the post-whistle shenanigans.

It has remained a physical affair, but the officials have kept their whistles put away.

I have to give a nod to American defender Jaccob Slavin. No. 74 for Canada, and his NHL club, the Carolina Hurricanes, has shown that he is one of the league's premiere defensive defensemen. He has been disruptive - checking well, defending well with his stick, blocking shots and cutting passing lanes off.

In what has been one of the great games in hockey history, just four minutes are remaining and the game needs a hero. Canadian hockey royalty - No. 66, 99 and 87 have made their mark in the big games. MacKinnon, McDavid and Makar are in their primes, and one of them putting the finishing touches on the game would be poetry.

I'm not sure that my nerves can handle this game going to overtime. 5 on 5 for the title could be an emphatic way to end the tournament, though.

Yeah, so. Off to overtime..

Overtime

If there was any question about the rivalry, which there shouldn't be, this game. This overtime. Answered it pretty loud.

McDavid took the torch from Crosby and scored the clutch goal to secure the gold and sit Canada atop the 4 Nations Face-Off totem pole. McDavid was given way too much time alone in the slot, and he made the Americans pay with a perfectly placed snapshot.

Binnington was simply brilliant, and at times he was the best player on the ice. Without his timely saves, and his puck play assisting his blueliners, Canada could be in a much different spot. The team came out to play and got the last laugh.

Connor McDavid was awarded player of the game, after scoring the game-winner, and playing 23:05. He registered three shots and was a menace with his speed.

The tournament MVP went to Nathan MacKinnon, who scored a goal in the game and registered five shots, two blocks and three hits. MacKinnon scored four goals throughout the tournament, and alongside Crosby, formed a brilliant duo on the second line.