The 4 Nations Face-Off provided drama on many different fronts – the rivalries between Canada and America and between Finland and Sweden.

But one of the more intriguing narratives was the play of U.S. captain Auston Matthews, who was under intense pressure to lead his team to victory in the tournament’s final game Thursday and justify wearing the ‘C’ for the Americans.

Now, was Matthews flawless in the gold medal game? Nope. He lost coverage of Canadian superstar Connor McDavid on the game-winning goal for Canada.

The Americans wound up losing to the Canadians, but you can’t blame Matthews for it.

From our perspective, you couldn’t have asked for much more from Matthews than what he delivered.

Obviously, U.S. fans would’ve loved to have seen Matthews produce the game- and tournament-winning goal, but you could say the same of each and every one of Matthews’ teammates. Let’s not forget that Matthews had the primary assist on both U.S. goals Thursday night. Without him, the Americans might not have sent the game to overtime.

But you have to remember that Matthews wasn’t going up against a mediocre talent who walked all over Matthews. You’re talking about arguably the best hockey player on the face of the earth, who, like Matthews, is doing his utmost to impact the game.

For that reason, we expect Matthews to hold onto the ‘C’ at the next best-on-best tournament – the 2026 Olympics in Milan, Italy.

For one thing, if you did want to change who the American captain is, who would you pick to replace Matthews? Who is more talented? Who is better at both ends of the ice? The answer is that nobody is superior to Matthews. He’s blossomed into a dynamic force in his own zone and his opponent’s zone. He’s a legitimate front-runner to win the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward. And when he’s healthy, he’s been the odds-on favorite to win the Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal-scorer. 

He’s about as complete a competitor as it gets. And really, the 27-year-old Matthews is currently in the prime of his NHL career. He won gold at two World Men's Under-18 Championships and has won the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Trophy before. This is not someone who is completely bereft of success but is hungry for more.

Matthews will take this 4 Nations Face-Off experience and learn from it. But he already has characteristics you want to see in a captain. Win or lose – and this is true of his captaincy with the Toronto Maple Leafs – Matthews always shows up to face the media. Like most human beings, he’d probably prefer to not have to show his face night in and night out, but he understands that as the best player on his team, he has to be accountable to the public who pay the freight on his lucrative contracts. In short, he gets it.

There’s nobody who would be a better captain for the U.S. than Matthews. And if he does help carry his American teammates past the finish line to achieve glorious things down the line, it will be in part because he took the lessons of the 4 Nations Face-Off and used them to eventually get to the promised land.

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The Hockey News - 'I'd Say It's A Pretty Even Playing Field': Maple Leafs Auston Matthews' Reacts To USA's Overtime Loss To Canada in 4 Nations Face-Off Final Auston Matthews picked up assists on both USA's goals but the Americans fell 3-2 in overtime in the 4 Nations Face-Off Final to Canada.