O’ Canada! Connor McDavid’s goal in sudden death gave Canada a 3-2 win over USA to win gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off last night in Boston.

On a memorable night when hockey was front and center in the United States on ESPN, Canada came back to defeat USA in a great championship game to conclude the 4 Nations Face-Off before a raucous environment at TD Garden. Jordan Binnington turned back the clock by making 31 saves on 33 shots to backstop Canada to the gold medal. That included six in overtime when he made a couple of highlight reel stops to prevent USA from winning.

Unlike the first game last Saturday, there were no fights in the championship rematch between close North American rivals. Instead, it was just hard-nosed hockey from the world’s best players. The intensity ramped up as the two countries battled for supremacy.

Playing without Charlie McAvoy, USA lost its best physical defenseman due to an infection the Bruins defenseman suffered against Canada in the first meeting. Similar to their 2-1 loss to Sweden in the final game of round robin play, Jake Sanderson stepped up in McAvoy’s place. The young Senators defenseman scored a big goal that put USA ahead in an exciting second period.

In a similarity to the first game, the Canadians drew first blood. On a good pinch from Thomas Harley, who filled in well for an ill Josh Morrissey, he moved the puck down low for Nathan MacKinnon, who then circled around into the high slot before firing a wrist shot past Connor Hellebuyck through traffic to give Canada a 1-0 lead at 4:48. Sam Reinhart picked up a secondary assist on the play.

When a more aggressive Canada threatened to increase their lead, Hellebuyck rose to the occasion by making some clutch saves to give his American teammates a chance. That included two very athletic pad denials while battling players in front. Seth Jarvis was left frustrated by not being able to get the puck by Hellebuyck, who made 10 saves in a busy first period.

With the Canadians in control for most of the period, the Americans began to push back thanks to a few faceoff wins. Finally with some momentum, they tied it up thanks to some outstanding work from captain Auston Matthews. The Maple Leafs star skated around the net and had his wrap-around attempt go right to Brady Tkachuk, who jammed it in for his third goal of the tournament at 16:52. Tkachuk’s emotional reaction during the goal celebration said it all. When interviewed following the heartbreaking loss, he called it the best hockey he’s ever been a part of.

In the second period, USA made it happen thanks to some hard work in front when a pinching Sanderson got to a Matthews rebound and put it home to make it 2-1 at 7:32. The play was made possible by Zach Werenski, whose point shot went off Binnington right to Matthews. He then had his backhand stopped before Sanderson buried the rebound for his first of the tournament.

Over a minute later, Vincent Trocheck took a tripping minor in the offensive zone to put Canada on the power play. Despite having the opportunity to tie it, they only could muster one shot from MacKinnon who had it stopped by Hellebuyck. In fact, a McDavid turnover nearly led to USA scoring shorthanded. After getting stopped on an initial shot, Dylan Larkin went for a turnaround shot from a tough angle that Binnington kept his concentration on to deny the bid. That proved to be a turning point.

In a period where they were limiting the Canadian forecheck, USA had one momentary lapse that proved costly. On what was a bad decision by Adam Fox, he forced a pass to J.T. Miller in the neutral zone. The puck was turned over allowing Mitch Marner to make a nice drop pass for Sam Bennett, who tied the game with six minutes remaining in the period. Fox also made the mistake of leaving his man to go to Marner, which allowed Bennett to score his first of the tournament.

Following the goal, a surging Canada pressed for the go-ahead goal. Hellebuyck made a strong save on McDavid. In the final moments, USA was on their heels as time wound down to end the second. They escaped falling behind.

The third was a different story. Urged on by a supporting pro-American crowd with “USA, USA, USA!” chants, USA came out aggressively. In fact, Jake Guentzel was sent in on a mini break. His backhand was foiled by Binnington, who would have to contest with a lot more than Hellebuyck the rest of the way.

Despite losing star forward Matthew Tkachuk to an injury, USA continued to control the action. Even with head coach Mike Sullivan hardly playing Chris Kreider, which shortchanged his bench, the 10 forwards he used applied a ton of pressure on Canada. In particular, Guentzel was dangerous. He had two more chances to put his team ahead. However, his shots didn’t find the back of the net. Those missed opportunities came back to haunt USA.

With the lone exception of the Canadian third line comprised of Lightning duo Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel with Mark Stone, the stars for Canada struggled to establish anything. They were bottled up by the diligent checking of the American defense led by Jaccob Slavin. Slavin was a human eraser, even making a huge save to prevent a Sidney Crosby goal with an open net. The Hurricanes defenseman has been one of the game’s best defensive defensemen for a long time. If they valued defense more, he’d be up for the Norris.

As regulation began to wind down, USA came close to winning it late. Following a Hellebuyck save on MacKinnon, who took MVP honors, Jack Eichel just missed on a backhand with Binnington dead to rights.

In overtime, the Americans continued to press the action. Over a minute in, Brock Nelson had a good chance to end it. But he sent his shot high and wide. On a night when Jack Hughes had some jump, he didn’t get the bounces and often was stuck with a mixed bag from Sullivan. For some reason, Nelson was with Hughes and Miller for a few shifts. It made about as much sense as healthy scratching Kyle Connor so he could only play Kreider a game low 6:25.

Binnington delivered his finest moments when after stopping Matthews, he reached out with his glove to stop Brady Tkachuk. He wasn’t credited with a shot on goal, but it looked like the game was about to be over. Despite Matthews having his best game of the tournament, he’ll unfortunately be remembered for his final defensive shift.

After Hughes failed to negate a Nelson icing, that led to an offensive draw for Canada. On a faceoff he won, McDavid opted to go forward with the puck. His shot was blocked by Noah Hanifin, who had a stellar tournament defensively. As often happens on a broken play, something happened to end the suspense quickly. After Cale Makar retrieved the loose puck, he got it over to Marner, who found McDavid wide open in the slot for the winner at 8:18 of overtime.

On the play, Matthews allowed McDavid to slip loose to get the memorable goal. Both he and Hughes got lost in coverage. It was a bitter pill to swallow. In an overtime they controlled, USA lost due to one mistake. That wasn’t the only one. It was moments earlier that it appeared that Canada got away with too many men on the ice. Even though nobody touched the puck, it was clear as day. In a game where one penalty was called, they missed that one. Both Chris Rooney and Gord Dwyer officiated a good game. They let the players decide it. USA was stewing over the missed call when it happened.

As tough a defeat as it was, USA knows that they’re right there with Canada. Despite not having Quinn Hughes available and losing Matthew Tkachuk, they were a shot away from winning the gold at 4 Nations Face-Off. So many fans tuned in to watch the spectacle.

Even if it wasn’t the result American hockey fans wanted, the true winner was the NHL. The event was a huge success. It didn’t matter that it only featured four countries. Most of the games were very competitive with a majority decided by a goal. The hitting we saw from players was playoff caliber.

The championship game had ebbs and flows as you would expect. Canada surged early to go ahead. USA came back to draw even. They then used their forecheck to take the lead. But Canada got a key contribution from a big game player in Bennett who won a Stanley Cup. Having those kind of gritty guys matter. In the end, it was the Canadian side who trusted their depth players more. The ice time was much more balanced, with Brad Marchand logging a team low 12:23. Jon Cooper played everyone. He outcoached Sullivan due to his lines being better. Sullivan shuffled too much, which came back to hurt them.