US defeats Canada in a game that starts with 3 fights in first 9 seconds

Canada and the United States have played some heated games on hockey’s international stage.

The rivalry reached a new — and nasty — level on Saturday.

Dylan Larkin scored the go-ahead goal in the second period as the U.S. beat Canada 3-1 after a punch-filled start that saw three fights within nine seconds to open the countries’ electric matchup at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Jake Guentzel added two goals of his own, including one into an empty net, for the Americans. Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves.

Connor McDavid replied for the Canadians, who were minus No. 1 defenceman Cale Makar because of illness. Jordan Binnington stopped 20 shots.

The loss snapped Canada’s 17-game winning streak against the Americans in a best-on-best game dating back to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

The U.S., which hammered Finland 6-1 in its curtain-raiser two nights earlier, clinched a spot in Thursday’s final in Boston with a second consecutive regulation victory that gives the country six points through two games.

Canada, Sweden and Finland each have two points at an event that represents the closest men’s hockey has come to best-on-best since the 2016 World Cup.

The NHL went to five straight Olympics from 1998 through 2014 before skipping 2018 for financial reasons. The league then withdrew from the 2022 Games because of COVID-19 worries.

The round-robin showcase that’s serving as an appetizer to the NHL’s return to the Olympics next year now shifts to TD Garden for a pair of games Monday — Canada versus Finland, Sweden versus the U.S. — before Thursday’s final between the two teams with the best records.

A regulation win against Finland will qualify Canada for the championship final.

After legendary MMA fighter Georges St-Pierre introduced Canada, which beat Sweden 4-3 in overtime Wednesday, forward Brandon Hagel and U.S. counterpart Matthew Tkachuk fought two seconds into the first period.

Canadian forward Sam Bennett, who drew into the lineup for Travis Konecny, and Brady Tkachuk of the U.S. then dropped the gloves one second later off the ensuing faceoff with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looking on from the stands.

The teams played the next six seconds without fisticuffs before defenceman Colton Parayko fought U.S. winger J.T. Miller to more raucous approval inside the crackling rink.

Prior to the fisticuffs, a large percentage of the sellout crowd at Bell Centre lustily booed the U.S. anthem. It’s the second time “The Star-Spangled Banner” drew that reaction in two games the United States has played at the NHL-run international tournament.

And it came after public address announcer Michel Lacroix asked the crowd, in French and English, “In the spirit of this great game that unites everyone that you kindly respect the anthems and the players that represent each country.”

This time, far more of the fans at Bell Centre booed than Thursday night before the U.S. game against Finland, and the booing lasted for the entire length of the song.

Fans lined up by the hundreds to get into the arena more than 90 minutes before start time and also booed every time a U.S. player was shown on video screens during pregame warmups.

When Saturday’s action finally pivoted to hockey, players on both sides finished every check with punishing vigour.

McDavid opened the scoring after taking a pass in stride from Drew Doughty and blowing past Charlie McAvoy before roofing a backhand on Hellebuyck at 5:31 of the first to nearly blow the top off the rink.

McAvoy got a measure of revenge moments later when he rocked McDavid with a clean hit.

Guentzel tied it at 10:15 on a five-hole shot Binnington will want back, but the goaltender redeemed himself on a power play later in the period when denied the American forward from in tight.

Binnington made a nice stop on Brady Tkachuk in the second before Hellebuyck denied Nathan MacKinnon.

Larkin, who hit the post earlier in the period, quickly took advantage of an uncharacteristic Sidney Crosby turnover later in the shift and beat Binnington by the blocker on a 2-on-1.

Matthew Tkachuk had Binnington at his mercy early in the third, but the netminder managed to scramble to make an awkward save.

McDavid had a chance on Hellebuyck from the slot with under eight minutes left in regulation that he held onto with Crosby lurking for a potential rebound.

Canada pulled Binnington with under two minutes to go with McDavid, Crosby and MacKinnon on the attack, but Guentzel iced it into the empty next with 1:19 remaining before American fans chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” as the clock ticked down.

STEP UP

Canada dressed defenceman Thomas Harley with Makar out. The Canadians were already down Shea Theodore after he suffered an upper-body injury in Wednesday’s overtime victory against Sweden that ended his tournament.

Makar remains eligible to play the remainder of the schedule if healthy.

IN ATTENDANCE

Apart from Trudeau and St-Pierre taking in the game, other famous faces included Canadian women’s hockey star Marie-Philip Poulin and former U.S. figure skater Michelle Kwan.

Members of Canada’s 1972 Summit Series team — Paul Henderson, Ken Dryden, Serge Savard and Yvan Cournoyer — were also honoured in the second period.

Former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price also got raucous applause in the third during a TV timeout.