After three back-and-forth periods, overtime was needed to determine the winner. Just over eight minutes into overtime, Connor McDavid took a pass from Mitch Marner in the corner, and wristed it past Team USA goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and into the back of the net, giving Team Canada a 3-2 overtime victory.
CONNOR MCDAVID! OVERTIME WINNER! 🚨
CONNOR MCDAVID TRANCHE EN PROLONGATION! 🚨#4Nationspic.twitter.com/AF96PDU2S8
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) February 21, 2025
The win marked the second time since the 2010 Winter Olympics that the United States and Canada met in the final game of a best-on-best tournament, and also the second time that the latter had won the game.
First Period
In the first period, Team Canada got on the board first at the 4:48 mark when Nathan MacKinnon took the puck from the corner, and whistled it through a maze of players and past Hellebuyck on the blocker side, giving the defacto visitors a 1-0 lead early on over Team USA.
Related: Guide to the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off
The United States didn’t cave and let Canada run away with it. Instead, they continued to play hard for the remainder of the period. In fact, they tied the game up over ten minutes later when Brady Tkachuk found a loose puck that Auston Matthews left in front of the net and tapped it over Canada netminder Jordan Binnington’s shoulder, sending the United States’ fans into a frenzy.
Second Period
Team USA kept the momentum going and took a 2-1 lead just over 7:30 into the middle stanza when Jake Sanderson banked a loose puck past Binnington, ironically also off a shot by Matthews – sending his team on the bench, as well as the fans in attendance, into a frenzy.
Following the goal and just a few minutes later, the United States committed the game’s first penalty when Vincent Trocheck was called for tripping. While Team Canada was unable to pick up a tally on the man advantage, the real shine came when Jack Eichel, after breaking his stick, deflected a pass with his foot, leading to a shorthanded chance the other way for Dylan Larkin. Larkin, unfortunately, was denied by Binnington.
Canada, however, tied it up with six minutes left in the middle stanza when Sam Bennett took a no-look pass from Mitch Marner and wristed it past Hellebuyck.
With just six minutes left in the middle stanza, Matthew Tkachuk left the ice with what was announced as a groin injury on ESPN, and would not return for the rest of the game.
Third Period
Neither team was able to score a goal in the third period. However, for the first time in the game, there was a difference in shots on goal. Team USA took eight shots to Team Canada’s four in the final frame of regulation.
At the end of regulation, Canada had five players who had at least two shots on goal. The United States on the other hand played more superior defense with six with at least two shots on goal, three of whom had at least three. Despite the chances for both sides, neither could break through as the period wore on, and the game went to overtime.
Back to Regularly Scheduled Programming… On Saturday…
The NHL regular season is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 12:30 p.m. between the Minnesota Wild and Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.