Three fights commenced in the first nine seconds of the 4 Nations Face Off game between USA and Canada.
At the opening puck drop, USA’s Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel didn’t wait at all to get in on the action in what was a healthy scrap.
But just two seconds later, Matthew’s brother, Brady, went toe-to-toe with Sam Bennett, who is teammates with Matthew in the NHL on the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
However, that was not enough. After an opening rush into the Canada zone, a scrap involving just about everyone occurred, but J.T. Miller and Colton Parako got into a fight of their own.
It caused plenty of crowding in the penalty boxes, but cooler heads eventually prevailed.
The game is being played in Montreal, so the tensions in the crowd were already high – the “Star-Spangled Banner” was booed loudly despite previous pleas not to do so and “respect” the anthems.
Even NHL exec Bill Daly called it an “unfortunate situation” and hoped it would end – alas.
This is the first time since 2016 that the U.S. and Canada are on the ice in a best-on-best format since 2016 in the World Cup of Hockey, which will return in 2028 after a 12-year hiatus.
Both teams won their first games of the tournament, but the United States is ahead in the standings due to their win coming in regulation; Canada needed overtime to defeat Sweden on Thursday.
Canada got on the board first, with who else but Connor McDavid lighting the lamp roughly five-and-a-half minutes into the game. Jake Guenztel tied it up a few minutes later.
With a win, the Americans will clinch their spot into the one-game final on Saturday in Boston, which could very well come against this same Canada team.
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