The NHL’s 4 Nation Face-Off is a tournament with 4 nations, Canada, USA, Sweden, and Finland. Only 5 game days and with a championship game. With so many players from all across the world, the national games give players a chance to compete and play for their home country with others also from the same nation. It also gives fans a chance to watch hockey that they can cheer for. For the players, winning for their country is very important. For the fans, it gives them more hockey and a chance to watch many rivalries unfold.

Instead of having All-Star games, the NHL decided to bring back the Nation games.

The national games started in 1996 but did not return until 2004 and again 12 years later in 2016. In 2016, there were eight national teams: Canada, the USA, Czechia, Finland, Russia, and Sweden. The NHL All-Star games will not return this year or in 2026. The National game will most likely take its place. If not, the NHL may start having the tournament every couple of years as fans enjoy the change in jerseys.

Before Canada beat Sweden 4-3 in overtime, Mario Lemieux was introduced to the crowd. The crowd was bursting with noise as they rose for a standing ovation. In the first period, 0:44 seconds into the game, William Nylander received a 2-minute penalty for high-sticking Nathan Mackinnon. Right after the sticking, Nathan Mackinnon scored in the first minute with assists from Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, Canada with the lead 1 to nothing. After 13:15 of the first quarter, Brad Marchand scored a snap shot goal from a pass from  Brandon Point to secure the goal. Canada ended the first period with amazing defense as Sweden only had 3 shots on goal compared to Canada’s 7 shots.

 In the second period, the game slowed down as the first goal was at 9:33 with a pass from 77,  Victor Hedman and Jonas Brodin put the first goal on the board for Sweden. With only around 3 minutes left of the 2nd period, Penguins Sidney Crosby passed the puck to Mark Stone and was able to snap it in the net bringing Canada up 3-1. The second period ended with no penalties for either team and 7 shots on goal for Canada and Sweden with 9.

To start the 3rd, Swedens Adrian Kempe shoots through the goalie’s legs and brings the score up 3-2 with Canada still up one goal. After 7 minutes after that goal, Joel Eriksson Ek scored with a wrist shot to tie the score 3-3. Canada Josh Morrissey received a high sticking against Joel Eriksson Ek to end the third period. With the score ending at 3-3, Canada and Sweden went into overtime.

 After 6 minutes of overtime, Sidney Crosby kept the puck as he raced past many of Sweden’s players and then passed it back to Mitch Marner who was able to snap-shot the puck past the goalie, Filip Gustavsson. With Marner’s overtime goal, Canada overcame Sweden with a 4-3 score. The three stars of the Canada-Sweden game were Canadian Sidney Crosby with 3 assists, Canada Mitch Marner with the game-winning goal, and Swedens Lucas Raymond with 2 assists.

Starting the first period, J.T. Miller and Anton Lendell got heated as both centers had emotions built up. The first penalty was given to Finland from Joel Armia cross-checked Jake Guentzal, the former Penguin. The first goal of the game was awarded to Finland from a swift snapshot by Henri Jokiharju with assists from Grandlung and Olli Maatta granting an early lead for Finland. Only a couple minutes after the first goal, Brady Tkachuk ties the score after getting the puck in the net. With so much history between these players, many dirty hits are received during the first period. After USA’s first goal, Noah Hanifin tripped Patrik Laine and received a 2-minute penalty. Finland’s power play had the arena on the edge of their seats as each shot was so close to being goals. Jack Hughes gave a lot of light to the USA with 4 shot attempts trying to score on Finland goalie, Soros. The first period ended with a tie 1-1 and USA had 12 shots on goal and Finland had 7.

7 minutes into the 2nd period was started with a Finland penalty for boarding. The Finland fans were not happy with the call as they booed the referee when he called the penalty. After a long, back-and-forth game, Matt Boldy of USA was able to dump the puck in for a 2-1 lead for Team USA. Finland did not make it easy for USA as they provided a very physical first 2 periods. With 2.2 seconds left in the 2nd period, Olli Maatta received a penalty for hooking against Auston Matthews that carried over to the 3rd quarter as well as USA’s power play. 

The 3rd period started strong for Team USA with a power play goal 15 seconds into the period by Matthew Tkachuk with a swift shot into the net upping the score to 3-1. 11 seconds after the first goal Auston Matthews was able to steal the puck and quickly get a pass to Jack Hughes, Who passed it back to Auston Matthews. Matthews slides the puck to Jake Guentzal to score his second goal of the game for the USA. Brady Tkachuk backhanded the puck into the net for his 2nd goal of the game also bringing the score up to 5-1 for Team USA. Adam Fox received a roughing against the Hurricanes Sebastion Aho, who also received a roughing against Fox. 30 seconds after Zach Werenski tripped Henri Jokiharju and got sent to the box, giving Finland a power play. Joel Armia got a penalty for roughing Charlie McAvoy giving USA a power play, awarding Matthew Tkachuk a chance to score a power play goal and bring the score up 6-1 giving USA the win. Team USA had 12 shots on goal and Finland had 8. Matthew Tkachuk was the star of the game with 2 goals and 1 assist. His brother Brady was right behind him with 2 goals. Matt Boldy was the 3rd star with 1 goal and 1 assist.

Starting the game off for Finland, Niko Mikkola received a penalty for hooking against Swedens Gustav Nyquist. Mika Zibanejad scored the first goal of the game for Sweden with no assists. Just over a minute later, Finland tied the score with Anton Lundell getting the puck past Sweden’s goalie. Pittsburgh’s Rikard Rakell got put in the box after a hooking was called on him. With only seconds left of the period, Sweden got another penalty called on Victor Hedman for tripping Sebastian Aho. Moments later, Mikko Rantanen gives Finland the lead 2-1 from his snap shot into the net for a power play goal. The first period ended with 4 shots on goal for Finland and 8 for Sweden.

5 minutes into the second period, Rasmus Dahlin was able to tie the score for Sweden with a rebound shot. Just 5 minutes after that, Erik Karlsson gives Sweden the lead 3-2 with an assist from William Nylander. With a tip-in shot, Finlands player, Aleksander Barkov was able to bring the score to 3-3 with only 14 seconds left in the second period. The second period ended with no penalties for either team. Finland had 10 shots on goal and Sweden had 7.

During the 3rd period, neither teams were able to score. Finland received a penalty from Aleksander Barkov’s hooking on Swedens Elias Pettersson. Finland had 6 shots on goal and Sweden had 7. With the score at 3-3 at the end of the third, the teams went into overtime.

In only 1 minute and 49 seconds into overtime, Mikael Granlund gave Sweden the win with a wrist shot to get the puck past Sweden’s goalie. The final score was 4-3 with Finlands win. Sweden had 2 shots on goal and Finland only had one, the winning shot. There were no penalties for anyone in overtime. The #1 star of the game was Finlands Mikael Granlund with the overtime-winning goal. The second star was Finlands Patrik Laine with 2 assists. The third star of the game was Swedens Erik Karlsson with one goal.

Canada did not have Cale Makar due to illness against USA. The game started with a brawl between Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel, not even a second after Brady Tkachuk fought Sam Bennett resulting in both brothers and Canada players in the box. 6 seconds later JT Miller received a cross-checking against Colton Parayko. Miller and Parayko then also start to fight. Not even a minute in and both teams have 3 players in the penalty box. After a couple of minutes of more rivalry showing, Connor McDavid scores the first goal of the game with a backhanded shot to put Canada 1-0 over Team USA. With 9:45 left in the first period, Jake Guentzal ties the score with Canada. Sidney Crosby gets a penalty for hooking on Matt Boldy, giving USA their first power play. Minutes pass and Jake Guentzal trips Josh Morrissey and gets sent to the box, giving Canada the advantage with 5 on 4. The first period ends with no score change and both teams with 8 shots on goal.

In the second period, Dylan Larkin was able to score a snap shot goal 13 minutes into the period with an assist from Matt Boldy to give USA a 2-1 lead for the rest of the second period. There were no penalties during the second period as the players had calmed down after the fighting. Both teams had 10 shots on goal to end the second.

With a very slow and back-and-forth start to 3rd period, with only 3 minutes left Canada takes their goalie out to enter in an extra player. USA’s Matthew Tkachuk did not play the rest of the game. Canada leaving their net empty was a mistake as Jake Guentzal took advantage of the opportunity and scored to bring USA up 3-1. With under a minute left of the game Canada tried to score to bring the score up but was unsuccessful as they could not come out on top. The three stars of the game were Connor McDavid with Canada’s only goal, Dylan Larkin with one goal and one assist for USA, and Jake Guentzal with 2 of the USA’s 3 goals. With the win, USA made the finals while Canada still had a chance. This was Sidney Crosby’s first loss in 27 games with Canada in an international game.

Within the first 5 minutes of the first period, Connor McDavid scored an unassisted goal for Canada giving them the first lead. After a minute of play, Nathan MacKinnon scored a snap shot goal with assists from Reinhart and Hagel. 7 minutes left in the period and with a backhanded shot Brayden Point scored giving Canada a 3-0 lead to end the first period.  Canada had 11 shots on goal while Finland only had 5.

Nathan MacKinnon scored in 5 minutes of the second period with assists from Crosby and Reinhart. With 5 minutes left, Devon Toews got a slashing penalty against Joel Armia, giving Finland a powerplay that they were unable to score on. Scoring for the 2nd period ended in a 4-0 score with Canada far up in the lead. 2nd period ended with Finland stepping it up with 12 shots on goal and Canada with 8.

The third-period scoring started late as Finland finally put their first goal into the net. Esa Lindell scored the first point for Finland making it 4-1. Minutes after, Mikael Granlund scored a snap shot for Finland. Within 23 seconds, Granlund scored again upping the score 4-3.

Brady Tkachuk obtained a lower-body injury and was not able to play against Sweden. In 35 seconds, the USA got the first lead from Chris Kreider scoring a wrist shot goal. With no scoring for the next couple of minutes, Swedens Elias Lindholm received a penalty for delaying the game because of a puck over the glass. 2 minutes later Matt Boldy of USA got an interference penalty against Mattias Ekholm. To tie up the score, Gustav Nyquist scored a tip-in goal for Sweden. With under a minute left in the first period, the New Jersey Devils player, Jesper Bratt, scored a wrist shot with an assist from William Nylander to give Sweden the 2-1 lead. To end the first period, the USA had 13 shots on goal, and Sweden with 8.

In the second period, neither team scored any goals. Noah Hanifin hooked Viktor Arvidsson resulting in a hooking penalty and awarding Sweden with a power play. After about 6 minutes Filip Forsberg received a slashing penalty against Kyle Connor, giving USA a power play, unfortunately, neither team scored on their power plays. 

Starting the 3rd period with a penalty from Adam Fox cross-checking Lucas Raymond of Sweden. Minutes after, Erik Karlsson received a high sticking penalty against Jake Guentzal. The third period had no scoring plays, giving Sweden the 2-1 win over USA. Sweden had 6 shots on goal and USA had 12. Jesper Bratt was the star of the game with the tie-breaking goal for Sweden.

“It’s a game 7, right? It’s for everything” – Jake Eichel, Team USA

“We’re out there playing for a flag. Not the cameras.” -Brandon Hagel, Team Canada

Before the championship game, players were asked what the finale meant to them. They are giving it their all. They are playing for their home country and winning for their country means everything to them. Before the puck drop, announcers confirmed Cale Makar was healthy and would be playing for Canada.

Starting the first period with some pushing and shoving but no fight as Brady Tkachuk slid into Canada’s goalie crease. Minutes later, Nathan MacKinnon was able to get it into USA’s net and through the traffic of the USA players to get his 4th goal of the tournament. Canada with the lead of 1-0. Canada with the efforts and energy tried to get it past USA’s goalie, Hellebuyck, with a stack of Canadian players tripping and falling trying to score but unable. Again, minutes later, the Canada strategy of trying to scramble players to get the puck past Hellebuyck, but yet again he did not let it get past. With an assist from Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk was able to get USA’s first goal tying the score 1-1 followed by an uproar from the crowd very excited about the USA’s goal. The first period ended with a tie and USA with 10 shots on goal and Canada with 11. USA had won 7 straight faceoffs during the first period.

3 minutes into the second period JT Miller went down after hitting Drew Doughty and seemed pretty shaken up. Brady Tkachuk started to get into it with a Canadian player but got broken up. After seconds, another little outbreak broke out between the players. Giving USA their first lead of the game, Jake Sanderson snap-shotted the puck past Canada’s goalie. Minutes later Vincent Trocheck received a penalty for tripping against Sam Bennett. With so many rivalries, another brawl happened with Brady Tkachuk tangled up between Connor McDavid and other players. With 6 minutes to go in the period, Sam Bennett ties the score for Canada with a swift wrist shot. USA had 9 shots on goal and Canada with 8. The second period ended with the USA-Canadian rivalries showing in contrast to how badly each player wanted to win this game.

The third period had little to no action as neither team scored and no players got any penalties. Both teams were eager to score but unable to as both goalies reflected each shot. Canada with only 4 shots on goal and USA with 8. Canada was not giving up this game as they had so much to prove. Will they stay the true hockey nation? Or will USA be taking over? A lot was on the line for both teams to prove their skill. With the score staying 2-2, both teams went into overtime. 

With back-and-forth plays for the first couple minutes of overtime, Connor McDavid shoots and scores from a pass from Mitch Marner awarding Canada with the win. It was an intense tournament turnaround. Canada brought more effort and the need to win for their flag and succeeded. Unfortunately for USA the next national tournament like the 4 nations is unknown. The USA had an amazing run in this tournament, especially with the first 3-1 win over Canada. The USA had 6 shots on goal and Canada had 4. The player of the game was Connor McDavid with the game-winning goal for Canada. Although USA did not come out on top, they proved a lot with these games, especially the coaching from Mike Sullivan, they proved that they have what it takes to be a top hockey nation.

Kaleb Trice, a Senior hockey player from Greater Latrobe, said that he enjoyed watching the 4 Nations games. “I liked it. I thought it was good that players were able to represent their country and they could play with new teammates, sometimes against their own teammates from their NHL team. But I thought it was cool to watch and it was pretty fun.” After Canada beat USA in the finals, many were happy but what changed from the first face-off when USA overcame them? Kaleb shares his thoughts, “When USA was playing in Canada they wanted to go out and beat Canada. They probably had more determination and more grit when they were away in Canada rather than home.”