Canada wins 4 Nations championship on McDavid’s overtime goal

Connor McDavid scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift Team Canada to a 3-2 win over Team USA to capture the 4 Nations Face-Off championship on Thursday night at TD Garden.

Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring for Canada at the 4:48 mark of the first period with a long-range snipe through traffic to the top-left corner, over the blocker side of USA goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

MacKinnon's goal seemed to deflate the largely American crowd at TD Garden, but Team USA woke them back up late in the first period. Brady Tkachuk banged home the tying goal from the doorstep, off a feed from captain Auston Matthews, to tie the game 1-1.

The Americans took their first lead of the night at the 7:32 mark of the second period, when defenseman Jake Sanderson - who subbed into the lineup in the wake of a shoulder injury for Charlie McAvoy - whacked a loose puck from the slot past Canada goaltender Jordan Binnington to make it 2-1.

Team USA couldn't get to the intermission with the lead, though. Canada's Sam Bennett, a Florida Panther and sworn enemy of Bruins fans, scored the tying goal with a flip over Hellebuyck's shoulder short-side to make it 2-2. The teams headed into the third period tied in both goals and shots.

For the game-winner, McDavid found his way to the slot and fired it past Hellebuyck, on just his third shot of the game. Matthews was covering him but got caught chasing the puck for just a second too long, and that's all McDavid would need to score.

McDavid's overtime heroics earned him Player of the Game for the championship, but MacKinnon was voted the 4 Nations MVP for the whole tournament.

Team USA will now return to their NHL clubs and resume the season this weekend. The Bruins get back to action against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday at TD Garden.

Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.