Connor McDavid’s Overtime Goal Clinches 4 Nations Face-Off Title for Team Canada – The Hockey Writers – 4 Nations Face-off

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.

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