MONTREAL – It didn’t take long to see that the highly-anticipated USA-Canada matchup at the 4 Nations Face-Off was going to exceed expectations.

And this might not be the last one of the event.

Three fights in the first nine seconds set the tone for an incredible round-robin matchup between the two rivals, won by the Americans, 3-1, in a Bell Center that was as raucous and loud as any setting for a big game has been in recent memory.

A fight right off the opening draw between Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel was almost immediately followed by a scrap between Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, with another spirited battle between J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko to follow six seconds later. Team USA didn’t necessarily win every battle, but they did win the war, clinching a berth in Thursday night’s final in Boston.

It marked another unforgettable night at the inaugural and likely only 4 Nations Face-Off, just three days after Canada and Sweden set the tone during the event opener. This, even with the negative result, exceeds that, according to Canadian bench boss Jon Cooper.

“A couple nights ago, when I sat up here, if you were going to tell me something was going to top that, I wouldn’t believe you,” Cooper said. “But that topped it. It wasn’t planned. That wasn’t two coaches throwing guys over saying this is happening. That was organic as it gets, and was probably 10 years with no international hockey exhaled in a minute and a half.”

If you ask the Americans, it evidently wasn’t quite that unplanned; both Tkachuk brothers alluded to a group chat that included Miller that there were discussions of trying to drop the gloves early and often.

Canada’s Brandon Hagel, left, and United States’ Matthew Tkachuk (19) fight during first period 4 Nations Face-Off hockey game in Montreal on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

In truth, the fights didn’t do much; Connor McDavid scored the game’s first goal for Canada just 5:31 in an incredibly fast-paced and physical first period, but Miller said that the mood on the bench was pretty simple after that.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, with Jake Guentzel and Dylan Larkin having eventually answered with the game-tying and game-winning goals, respectively.

“We like to play with the lead, but it doesn’t matter who scores, it’s about the response if you scored or didn’t score. I thought that same thing happened against Finland, and we stayed with it and got some timely goals. Guys were coming up big with some big plays for us, but with the way we defended, I thought we broke up the ice pretty darn well today for the most part.”

With the games in Montreal now complete, the focus shifts to Boston — for those who are able to trudge through a Quebec snowstorm to get there in time, of course — where the round-robin finales will be played on Monday.

Canada, Finland and Sweden each have two points, and Cooper referred to his team’s Monday afternoon game against the Finns, who stunned Sweden in overtime on Saturday afternoon, as a “Game 7” for his group.

For Team USA, however, the expectation is that this won’t be the last time they’ll be seeing the Canadians in the next few days.

“Obviously,” Miller said, “but, you can see how tight the tournament is right now. Anything could happen.”

United States’ Dylan Larkin (21) celebrates his goal against Canada during second period 4 Nations Face-Off hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)