What a night.

Few games in recent years carried as much anticipation as Canada and USA on a Saturday night at the 4 Nations Face-Off, with the two teams icing all-star quality lineups. In the end, the United States won the game 3-1 in regulation, earning them a berth in Thursday’s championship game in Boston.

Canada, meanwhile, will look to qualify for the final following their game against Finland on Monday afternoon. Canada, Sweden and Finland are all tied at two points apiece, with Canada beating Sweden on Wednesday, and Finland taking the overtime win over Sweden earlier on Saturday.

The game started with three fights – something you don’t see ever in international hockey. After the chaos of watching six NHL stars drop the gloves, Connor McDavid would take advantage of a Charlie McAvoy mistake on the rush to beat Connor Hellebuyck and make it 1-0 Canada.

McAvoy seemed to take it personally and would go on to knock McDavid to his feet twice more in the first period. The Americans seemed extra energized after that, and 10:15, Jake Guentzel beat Canadian netminder Jordan Binnington five-hole to make it 1-1.

The game remained tight, with Canada having the advantage in high-danger chances. But at 33:33, Dylan Larkin would make it a 2-1 game when he used his speed off of a Matt Boldy feed to beat Binnington – a goal that would ultimately decide the game, with Guentzel scoring a second goal with the empty net.

Here’s a look at the top performers from the final game at the Bell Centre:

Canada

#9 Sam Bennett, C (Florida Panthers): This is the type of hockey Bennett is built for – physical, high-stakes action. He dropped the gloves with Brady Tkachuk after the second faceoff and then proceeded to land a couple of big hits in his next two shifts. He didn’t play much, but he had two decent looks in close in his limited ice time. You don’t need to play a lot to be effective, and I think Bennett made an impact every time he hit the ice.

#48 Thomas Harley, D (Dallas Stars): It couldn’t have been easy for Harley to have to join the team after the first game and find immediate results – especially with Cale Makar originally listed as a game-time decision. While the first few shifts were a bit difficult, Harley took the challenge of going up against some of USA’s top talents. He boasted an expected goals-for percentage of over 90 percent most of the night, which is all you can ask for from a late addition.

#71 Anthony Cirelli, C (Tampa Bay Lightning): Cirelli was Canada’s best defensive forward, doing a good job of preventing the Americans from breaking into the zone and creating high-danger chances. He didn’t do anything particularly mind-blowing with the puck, but he was difficult to beat in most 1-on-1 situations and hustled hard, too.

USA

#59 Jake Guentzel, LW (Tampa Bay Lightning): Guentzel had a good opening game against the Finns and then he got the Americans on the board tonight to make it 1-1. It was a bit of a fluky goal, but he had another good look a few minutes later and was generally doing good things on the attack. Guentzel capped things off with the empy-netter to seal the deal with about a minute left. With all the Americans’ talent, it feels like he’s almost a little underrated, flying under the radar throughout the game.

#12 Matt Boldy, RW (Minnesota Wild): Yet another excellent game from the Minnesota winger. He sent Larkin down for the 2-1 goal, but he also had USA’s top relative shooting-for percentage and a near 90 percent expected goals-for percentage. Analytically, he was far and away one of USA’s best players and an underdog candidate for the MVP award given how well he has played through two games. It just feels like magic happens offensively whenever he’s on the attack, no matter who he’s lined up with.

#21 Dylan Larkin, C (Detroit Red Wings): Originally, this was going to say “What would it take for USA to use Larkin more?” But then, he scored to make it 2-1, and USA started to listen. His speed has been on full display over the two games, but the puck, more often than not, has been in the opponent’s end when he’s on the ice. Larkin brings so much energy to every shift and he’s one of the few bottom-six players that you can continuously count on getting to the middle and trying to generate something no matter the defensive opponent.

#74 Jaccob Slavin, D (Carolina Hurricanes): Slavin played 17 minutes over the first 40 alone, matching up against all of Canada’s top players. He played some incredible shutdown hockey, keeping guys like McDavid and Sidney Crosby to the outside. Tonight was one of those games where Slavin won’t get enough credit because he isn’t flashy, but he’s exceptional defensively.

#37 Connor Hellebuyck, G (Winnipeg Jets): Sometimes, goaltending can make a difference. Tonight, Hellebuyck was a star. He made 25 stops, including many high-danger chances to finish with a .962 save percentage. The one goal against was a tough one – a great effort from McDavid. Beyond that, he was perfect.

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