Canada, USA tied 1-1 after first period of 4 Nations Face-Off final
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Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring for Team Canada, Brady Tkachuk replied for Team USA as they are tied 1-1 after the first period of the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game from TD Garden in Boston.
MacKinnon fired the puck through a maze of bodies, beating a partially screen Connor Hellebuyck in the USA net at the 4:48 mark of the opening frame.
Thomas Harley and Sam Reinhart were credited with assists on the ice-breaking goal.
Seth Jarvis had three cracks on the doorstep to double Canada’s advantage at the 10:36 mark, but wasn't able to find the back of the net.
Jordan Binnington was forced to make a huge stop as Dylan Larkin got a partial break on net, but could not get his shot past the Canadian goaltender.
Tkachuk knotted the score at 1-1 at 16:52 of the first period as he drove to the net and converted a pass from USA captain Auston Matthews.
Unlike the round robin clash between the rivals, which took place at Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday, Thursday’s contest began with game play rather than the three fights that took place in the opening seconds.
Binnington made nine saves for Canada in the opening frame of Thursday's game.
Hellebuyck turned away nine shots for USA in the first period.
Both teams announced roster changes just prior to puck drop as Team Canada defenceman Josh Morrissey was replaced by Harley due to illness and Team USA forward Kyle Connor was scratched in favour of Chris Kreider.
Earlier on Thursday, Canada announced that they would replace Travis Konecny with Jarvis for the final.
The USA defeated Canada 3-1 in their round robin matchup.