"You Can't Take Our Country — And You Can't Take Our Game”: Canada Beats USA In Four Nations Face-Off Final

Photo Credit: NHL/X

After weeks of tariff threats, diplomatic tensions, and a brawl-filled round-robin matchup, the NHL’s Four Nations final was set to be a game to remember. With Canada and the USA coming to blows early in their first meeting — three fights took place in the first nine seconds of play — fans were expecting a thrilling final game. 

The 3–2 OT win for Canada delivered all that, and more. 

After a 5–3 win against Finland on Feb. 17, Canada battled its way to the finals. The US dropped a game against Sweden 2-1, but their spot had already been clinched. As soon as the competitors were decided, both sides voiced their excitement for the final.

“I can tell you that every single person I’ve talked to is so jacked up for this game. This is an opportunity of a lifetime for us, and I’ve played in some really big games, and this is the biggest one,” Florida Panthers and Team USA forward Matthew Tkachuk told Sportsnet. 

US president Donald Trump also weighed into the fervor, posting on Truth Social early Thursday, “I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State.”

Canadian coach Jon Cooper wasn’t unaware of the tensions surrounding the match and leaned into the spectacle of the game. “We came here for this purpose, and now it's win one more game,” he told NHL.com. “It just happens to be against the team that beat us after the fireworks that went off on Saturday night, so I think it should be a pretty good made-for-TV event.”

Rogers, which owns NHL TV rights in Canada, posted billboard ads around Montreal before the game that featured Edmonton Oilers and Team Canada star Connor McDavid with the heading “NOTRE ÉQUIPE. NOTRE SPORT.” Translated to English, the boards sent a definitive message: “OUR TEAM. OUR GAME.”

The finals took place at TD Garden in Boston, and according to NHL.com, the game drew 16.1 million viewers in North America, with 9.3 million viewers in the US and 6.3 million in Canada. That makes it the most-watched NHL game in years, defeating the previous record holder, the 2019 Stanley Cup finals between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. 

After days of anticipation, the day of the matchup arrived, and millions of viewers waited with bated breath for the puck to drop. Before gameplay began, the two nations’ national anthems were sung. Even though the round-robin Canada-USA matchup on Feb. 15 was not a final, passionate fans booed the American national anthem at Montreal's Bell Centre. The anthem singing at the Feb. 19 match was no less contentious. 

According to CBS Sports, Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk changed the words of the anthem and later explained on her Instagram story that the shift was intentional. “During soundcheck, I sang the wrong words 'in all thy sons command' out of habit and when I analyzed the new line, I thought wow — this could mean something so pertinent to our country in this moment with a change in just two words, three syllables," Kreviazuk wrote. During her rendition Kreviazuk sang  “that only us command” instead of  "in all of us command.”

After the first whistle blew, action was quick to commence. In the first period, Canadian forward Nathan MacKinnon scored first, putting the Canadians up a goal early. The lead was short lived, as Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk tied it up for the US at the end of the period. The Americans pulled ahead in the second period, with a Jake Sanderson rebound goal. To finish the period, however, Sam Bennett equalized things for Canada, leaving both teams with two goals apiece. After a scoreless third period, the game went to overtime, as scrappy US players crowded the Canadian zone. Canada’s goalie, Jordan Binnington, was tested several times, as he made memorable saves to keep Canada in the game.

And then finally, with 11:42 left in OT, Connor McDavid had Canada’s answer.

The team’s joy was uncontainable as they flooded onto the ice, crowding around McDavid, and later Binnington too. McDavid was crowned Player of the Game, and MacKinnon won Four Nations MVP.

Veteran hockey star Sidney Crosby, who scored Canada’s golden goal at the 2010 Olympics, hoisted the trophy alongside the team at the Four Nations and was elated after the win. "We have a lot of pride with being Canadian, but also for hockey as well," Crosby, the team's captain, said to TSN. "Our group felt that and it meant a lot that we could find a way to pull it out."

After days of barbs from the US President, Prime Minister Trudeau had a simple post-game rebuttal, which he posted on X: "You can't take our country – and you can't take our game.”