The National Hockey League and its fans were the big winners in the recent “Four Nations Face-Off” international competition. The event replaced the traditional “All-Star Game” and was a resounding world-wide success! Here is a summary of the action.
Wednesday, February 12th (Canada v. Sweden): The first game of the series started with what many Canadian hockey fans believe to be the best line in the history of hockey. They may not be wrong. Canada scored an early goal on the power play with the three best players in the world all contributing. Conner McDavid quickly passed to Sidney Crosby, who passed it cross-ice through traffic to a ready Nathan Mackinnon. 1-0 Canada. Brad Marchand, known as the “rat” amongst NHL fans, would get Canada’s second goal to put them up 2-0. Sweden was not out of it, however, as despite a late-period goal by Mark Stone, Jonas Brodin, Adrian Kempe, and Joel Eriksson would all score to force the game into overtime. In a thrilling finish, Crosby intercepted the puck before giving Toronto star Mitch Marner a perfect pass for the overtime goal. 4-3 Canada wins.
Thursday, February 13th (Finland v. USA): The Fins would start the scoring with a goal from Henri Jokiharju. They again dominated the beginning of the game until Senators’ star Brady Tkachuk scored for the US in the middle of the first period. Matt Boldy would later put the US up 2-1 with the lone goal of the second period. After that, the offense for the USA exploded. Two goals from Mathew Tkchauck and Jake Guentzel in the first 30 seconds of the third period crushed the Fins’ spirit. Next, the Tkachuk brothers would finish off the scoring together at the end of the third. The final score reflected the USA’s domination, 6-1.
Saturday, February 15th (Finland v. Sweden): In the most intense game of the series yet, the teams battled back and forth. Sweden opened the game up with a Mika Zibanejad goal before the Fins fought back with two goals from Anton Lundell and Mikko Rantanen to end the first period with the game standing at 2-1 Finland. Sweden would take the lead early in the second with back-to-back goals from Rasmus Dahlin and Erik Karlsson, but Finland would come back and tie the game with 3 minutes to go in the second with a goal from Aleksander Barkov. With a scoreless 3rd period, this game also went to overtime. The first part of overtime was much like the third with defensive dominating, but on a chance shot, Finland’s Mikael Granlund was able to score the OT winner. 4-3 Finland.
Saturday, February 15th (USA v. Canada): Quite possibly the biggest game in hockey history up to this point began with starts and stops in play. Why? In the first 9 seconds of the game, there were three fights between the two rivals, two of which had the USA’s top scorers from the previous game, with the Tkachuks as participants. It would not be long, however, until the best player on planet Earth, Connor McDavid, would use his miraculous speed to score on a breakaway. Just five minutes later, however, Jake Guentzel responded with a soft goal that made many question Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington’s merit. The U.S. would be the lone scorer for the rest of the game, with Dylan Larkin scoring in the second and Jake Guentzel once again picking up a goal with the empty net. 3-1 USA.
Tuesday, February 18th (Finland v. Canada): Canada dominated overall, scoring three goals in the first period from Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Brayden Point. MacKinnon added another goal in the second, and Sidney Crosby sealed the win with an empty-netter in the third. Finland mounted a comeback led by Mikael Granlund in the third, but it was too little, too late. Canada reached the final round.
Tuesday, February 18th (USA v. Sweden): An irrelevant but entertaining game. The U.S. had already secured a spot in the final, so they played their backup goalie and rested several key starting players. Sweden had no chance of advancing because Canada secured a regulation win. Despite winning 2-1, Sweden still failed to reach the final.
Thursday, February 20th (USA v. Canada): The grand finale of this showcase tournament. Despite their embarrassing loss on Saturday, Canada looked as ready as ever to win the game. The USA, on the other hand, was missing key players as Matthew Tkachuk and Charlie McAvoy were both out. The game started off with an absolute snipe from Nathan Mackinnon for a 1-0 Canada lead. But before the first period ended, Brady Tkachuk scored by essentially just baseball batting the puck into the net. Just about halfway through the second, USA defenseman Jake Sanderson made a goal for the Stars and Stripes. However, just 7 minutes later, Sam Bennet would tie the game up for Canada 2-2 going into the third period. In an exciting defensive matchup, nobody scored in the third, meaning that the game would go to five-on-five overtime. The U.S. was peppering Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington, shot after shot; it felt never-ending. When the puck eventually got to the U.S. zone, Canadian forward Mitch Marner was fiddling with it in the corner. Immediately, three players from the U.S. raced to the puck. However, wide open just two feet from the net was Connor McDavid. Mitch Marner squeaked the puck out in a brilliant pass and “Connor McDavid wins it for Canada!” Devastation for the Americans and continued dominance for the Canadians—a game to remember.
Summary: In conclusion, the series had over 16 million viewers in North America alone. It brought in more attention than any hockey event in the past 20 years. It was undoubtedly a success on and off the ice in every way.
