In an exciting twist to the usual NHL All-Star game and Skills Competition, the 4 Nations Face-Off 2025 took center stage during the traditional “all-star break” in 2025 featuring some of the NHL’s top players including Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Elias Pettersson, and Auston Matthews.
Instead of focusing on following intense division rivalries and tight wildcard points races, fans were treated to a highly competitive tournament where the league’s top talent joined up with some of their fiercest competitors to represent their home countries.
On Saturday night, Feb. 15, the rivalry between the USA and Canada hockey met once again at the Bell Centre for a Saturday night primetime puck drop.
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Read the game recap, final score, and watch highlights below. Scroll down further for additional background information including rosters, the full schedule, and more details on the 4 Nations Face-Off.
PLAY FREE BIRD 🦅
USA defeats Canada in regulation and will play in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship‼️ #4Nations pic.twitter.com/LUse1rH2D7
Canada added the extra attacker as the game entered its final minutes and they try to tie it up with the red, white, and blue. Guentzel received the puck from Larkin for the shot at the empty net.
And with that, the USA took another three points to secure their spot in Thursday’s final game of the 4 Nations Face-Off at TD Garden. Canada, Sweden, and Finland each have a chance to secure the points to face the Americans on their turf.
That’s a wrap.
The crowd was on the edge of their seats as they hoped for Canada to score the tying goal in the final minutes of the period. It seemed like the game could swing either way at any moment. Shots on goal in the third are tied at five.
For the last few minutes, Canada had hemmed in USA as they passed it around and looked for an opening. They couldn’t find one wide enough and after a bad fan by Drew Doughty, they had to reset back in their own zone. Canada was responsible for the last eight shot attempts.
Matthew Tkachuk passed on a shift near the halfway point of the third period—he seemed to be nursing an injury a few minutes earlier in the period. J.T. Miller filled in on his next shift.
As offensive opportunities continued slowing for both teams, Hughes was able to breakout with Guentzel. Hughes’s sauce to Jake was too hard to handle however, who was unable to connect and launch it towards the Canadian net. This has pretty much been the name of the game for both team since Larkin scored the go-ahead goal.
Strong defense from the Americans to open the third period held Crosby and McDavid from attacking the net despite the disproportionate offensive zone time in favor of the Canadians.
It’s been an amazing 4 Nations Face-Off so far. Does Canada have what it takes to tie it up and potentially take the lead to interrupt USA’s charge to the final game on Thursday?
It all is decided in the next 20 minutes… or more.
Game Stats
USA earned the only goal of the period despite all of the offensive strength on both sides of the puck. They’ve locked down their defense and the hits have slowed down—although they haven’t gone completely.
Regardless of the energy ebbing to a more sustainable level, the feeling of the rivalry has been palpable every moment of the game.
Here’s another look at the go-ahead goal by Larkin.
Larkin makes no mistake! 🎯 #4Nations https://t.co/eUex8GZx9O pic.twitter.com/wUh9JsVGmz
With an offsides call brought on by the Canadians, the whistle is blown. The Americans have limited Canada’s offensive opportunities with timely blocks and turnovers.
Off of a turnover by Canada in the US zone, Matt Boldy found Dylan Larkin driving the zone, who nailed the shot selection to get it past Binnington and give the USA their first lead of the game.
Drew Doughty got caught in a change that opened up time and space for Larkin.
The turnover came off the back of one of Canada’s best looks since their scoring play in the first. MacKinnon, Crosby, Stone put together a dangerous shift that led to three shots on net within 11 seconds.
USA TAKES THE LEAD 🦅 #4Nations
🇺🇸: ABC & @ESPNPlus ➡️ https://t.co/S5tPrXCygm
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/XwYDc9Snxk
It’s still tied up. Here’s another look at the insane start of tonight’s contest.
“TWO NATIONS GOING AT IT … THIS IS USA-CANADA!”@PKSubban1 ON THE CALL 🔊 pic.twitter.com/QyT5B0SUoO
The Americans returned the pressure to Canadian goaltender, with shots flying from Vincent Trocheck, Zach Werenski, Brady Tkachuk, and Jaccob Slavin.
The momentum swings slightly in the Americans’ favor, but it still sits fairly in the middle as both teams fought to keep the energy levels high. As the clock ticked closer to the halfway point of the period, the speed slowed down a bit and offensive opportunities waned slightly.
A few quick shots from Canada to open the second period put the USA goaltender on notice.
And we’re off into the second 20-minute portion of tonight’s epic battle.
From the first moment to the last, the USA and Canada put on a great show tonight in Montreal. After three fights took place in the first 10 seconds, the tension couldn’t have been any higher for this rivalry to kick off.
USA VS. CANADA. THREE FIGHTS TO START THE GAME 😳
📺 ABC/ESPN+/Disney+ pic.twitter.com/C9VqGzIYA8
Just under five minutes into the period, Connor McDavid broke out, flying into the USA zone and delivered a backhand flip past Connor Hellebuyck to give Canada the early lead.
Five minutes later, Jack Eichel and Jake Guentzel pushed the Canada zone and Eichel completed a short saucer to Guentzel to give him the chance to open up and eek one through the five hole of Jordan Binnington.
Jake Guentzel took his first visit to the box after tripping Josh Morrissey on his attempt to split the defense down the middle of the USA zone.
Power Play unit includes McDavid, Crosby, Morrissey, Reinhart and MacKinnon.
Jarvis, Point, Stone, Doughty, and Marner were on the second unit. This line had a number of strong moments that tested Hellebuyck as the power play ticked down—they were unable to convert however.
Canada goes down a man for the first time tonight as Crosby hooked Matt Boldy. Tkachuk, Eichel, Guentzel, Werenski, and Matthews on the power play for USA.
Guentzel was able to throw it in on Binnington for a great chance off of a bouncing rebound that started as a deflection off of Matthew Tkachuk’s stick at the top of the crease. Binnington ended up making the save.
Canada killed the power play despite some decent pressure from the US.
The hits have continued to fly both ways with one of the Tkachuck’s usually involved in some way.
MCDAVID GOT LEVELED 😮 pic.twitter.com/YDq13qXhr9
Less than 30 seconds after Charlie McAvoy laid out Connor McDavid while he was trying to enter the USA zone, Jake Guentzel went the other direction to tie things up for the Americans. Jack Eichel got the assist.
The harder hits are starting to fly more after what had been a relatively calm few minutes since the opening fights.
TIE GAME‼️
Jake Guentzel has the equalizer for the USA! 🇺🇸 #4Nations
🇺🇸: ABC & @ESPNPlus ➡️ https://t.co/S5tPrXCygm
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/y57KV3bRlX
ELECTRIC ⚡️ #4Nations https://t.co/7F6Z2n11iT pic.twitter.com/aKrNDB0Ay7
With blazing speed entering the zone, Connor McDavid received the puck down the middle of the ice from Drew Doughty at top speed. He took it to Connor Hellebuyck’s front door step to flip it off his backhand over the US goalie’s high glove side.
In what was the best offensive chance of the game so far, Canada’s Mark Stone delivered the puck straight to the net but was unable to shove it past Connor Hellebuyck, even with Sidney Crosby’s help.
Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart and Sidney Crosby started for Canada on the first power play in tonight’s game.
USA killed it off with some strong defense to open, especially a few great denials by Charlie McAvoy.
BRANDON HAGEL AND MATTHEW TKACHUK DROP GLOVES AT PUCK DROP 😱
📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/Agc8UN3fIo
Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel immediately got into a fight as the puck dropped. Both were able to connect but nothing too ridiculous.
After just two more seconds, Sam Bennett and Brady Tkachuk went for round two. Much like the first, both had some glancing connections but nothing directly on.
What a way to get this game started.
After the puck made it down to the Canada end for the first time and nine seconds elapsed—Colton Parayko and J.T. Miller went at it. The penalty boxes are already full.
The chanting of “olé” by more than 20,000 people at the Bell Centre has the energy at an all-time high before tonight’s battle. Followed shortly after by the USA national anthem and a sing-along version of “O Canada,” both led by David Grenon of the Royal Canadian Air Force Band.
And we’re live! Puck drop is expected to be around 8:20 p.m. ET. Cale Makar is out tonight and Dallas Stars’ Thomas Harley will step in without having any practice time with Canada.
Warms ups are underway.
Almost time ⏰ #4Nations
🇺🇸: ABC & @ESPNPlus ➡️ https://t.co/S5tPrXCygm
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/KgJphalvuf
The 4 Nations Face-Off will be streaming on MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, ESPN, ESPN+ and ABC—depending on the game. View the full streaming schedule below.
Saturday, February 15
Monday February 17
Thursday, February 20
W-OTW-OTL-L
NHL.com reported that Cale Makar would be a game-time decision for the 4 Nations Face-Off match up against the Americans at the Bell Centre on Saturday. They reported that he did not practice on Friday due to an illness, “I’m feeling a little bit better; we’ll see how it goes this afternoon” said Makar.
Thomas Harley was available to step in if necessary, but did not practice with the team.
Shea Theodore is already out for Canada after sustaining an upper-body injury against Sweden on Wednesday after a hit from Adrian Kempe, putting them in a tight spot defensively.
On their way to this Saturday night rivalry matchup, USA and the flying Tkachuks defeated Finland 6-1 on Thursday night. The two brothers from Scottsdale, AZ scored two goals each. Zach Werenski earned three assists.
Finland’s lone goal by Henri Jokiharju opened the game with assists from Mikael Granlund and Olli Maatta.
Canada and Sweden opened the tournament on Wednesday night, with Mitch Marner sealing the deal 4-3 in overtime for the Canadians. Sidney Crosby tallied his third assist of the night on the game-winner. Sweden didn’t go down without a fight, though. Adrian Kempe and Joel Eriksson Ek tied it up with goals in the third period, taking them to bonus hockey.
What was the development path of Team USA’s players to becoming the best of the best? Chris Peters breaks down how the defense and goalies made it.
As Team USA gets set for the 4 Nations Face-Off opener, Chris Peters examines the development path of the forwards to be among the best of the best.
On this week’s episode of Called Up: The Prospects Podcast presented by Wonderful Pistachios, Chris Peters of FloHockey and Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects had much to discuss about the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Cam is on the scene in Montreal and gave his insights on the atmosphere at the Bell Centre, Canada’s narrow victory over Sweden in a thrilling tournament opener, what Sweden showed in the game and much more.
Chris and Cam also discuss the incredible rise of USA Hockey and how this may be the best collection of talent they’ve iced at a tournament top to bottom. Chris discusses how development has shifted and why the Americans have gained more ground on Canada while the neighbors to the north continue producing many of the game’s best talents.
The two also cover a range of international hockey topics in their weekly “Beyond Belief” segment including whether we’ll see Russia in the 2026 Olympics or not.
Lastly, Chris and Cam talk 2025 NHL Draft including the continued rise of Michael Misa and his growing threat to supplant Matthew Schaefer as the consensus No. 1. Also, why James Hagens continues to slide a bit more into the No. 3 category and a quick recap of last week’s U18 5 Nations that saw Finland surprisingly win the event.
In February 2024, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced at the NHL All-Star Game that the NHL would be modifying the all-star break for the 2025 season to an international tournament with the NHL’s best players from four of the world’s best hockey nations.
The intent of the tournament is to act as a stepping stone towards the NHL’s participation in the upcoming winter Olympics in 2026 and 2030—a change since players were not released to participate in 2018 and 2022.
The 4 Nations Face-Off is a round-robin tournament between four teams consisting of NHL players from each of the participating countries: United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland.
Each team will be made up of 13 forwards, seven defensemen and three goalies and they will play games in accordance with NHL rules. They will play three games and earn points:
The two teams with the best record will move on to the final.
Games will be played in two venues across North America—starting with four games at the Bell Centre in Montreal between Feb. 12-15 and moving to TD Garden in Boston, MA for the last three games.
Saturday, February 15
Wednesday, February 12
Thursday, February 13
View the rosters for each of the four teams at the 4 Nations Face-Off below.
Forwards
Defensemen
Goalies
*Replacement for Alex Pietrangelo
Forwards:
Defensemen:
Goalies:
*Replacement for Quinn Hughes
Forwards:
Defensemen:
Goalies:
*Vaakanainen and Jokiharju are injury replacements for Miro Heiskanen and Jani Hakanpaa
*Matinpalo is an injury replacement for Rasmus Ristolainen
Forwards:
Defensemen:
Goalies:
*Rickard Rakell is an injury replacement for William Karlsson
*Samuel Ersson is an injury replacement for Jacob Markstrom
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