U.S. and Canada go to war on the ice at Montreal in front of Trudeau

U.S. beats Canada after 4 Nations Face-Off fights, ends Sidney Crosby’s 26-game streak

Published February 16, 2025 06:00 AM

The U.S. men’s hockey team beat Canada in a best-on-best tournament game for the first time in 15 years, rallying for a 3-1 victory in 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin play in Montreal.

It ended Sidney Crosby’s 26-game win streak in a Canada jersey in tournament play, a run that included the Olympics (2010, 2014), World Championship (2015), the World Cup (2016, the most recent best-on-best tournament) and against Sweden to open the 4 Nations Face-Off on Wednesday.

Crosby’s last international tournament loss was also the last time the U.S. beat Canada in a best-on-best tournament: Feb. 21, 2010, in group play at the Vancouver Olympics (Martin Brodeur’s final game played for Canada). Crosby did play in a 2016 World Cup pre-tournament exhibition loss to the U.S.

Saturday’s game began with three fights in the first nine seconds: Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel, then Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett and finally J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko.

“I think the message we wanted to send is it’s our time right now,” Matthew Tkachuk said, conjuring Herb Brooks’ speech before the Miracle on Ice. “We’re in a hostile environment, and we wanted to show that we’re not backing down. They’ve had so much success, and so many players over there are some of the best players in the world, but we felt in this environment at this stage in this tournament, it was a good time to do it.”

Brady Tkachuk said the fights “just happened pretty organically,” then clarified later that it was discussed in a group chat during the day.

“Right when we found out the starting lineup, (Matthew Tkachuk) said he wanted a piece of him, then (I) coordinated with Benny there,” Brady Tkachuk said on ABC.

Connor McDavid opened the scoring later in the first period, after which the Americans got goals from Jake Guentzel (two, including an empty-netter) and Dylan Larkin. All three could make their Olympic debuts in 2026 with NHL players expected to participate in the Winter Games for the first time since 2014.

“Two passionate teams,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said of the three fights. “I mean it’s been a long time waiting, 10 years. These guys have waited for this. You can tell this is not an All-Star Game. This is a battle of the best of the best.”

https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/usa-canada-4-nations-face-off-hockey