After Montreal fans loudly booed the American anthem on Saturday night, the Canada-U.S.A. game at the 4 Nations Face-Off featured three fights in the first nine seconds.

When the 4 Nations Face-Off was approaching, the hope was that it would be considerably more exciting than the sleepy NHL All-Star weekend. As it turns out, it might be better than everything the NHL is putting out there, including the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

The hockey so far has been amazing, but the Canada-U.S.A. game on Saturday is the one everyone had circled on their calendar. It's been over eight years since we had a best-on-best international hockey event (World Cup 2016) and these are regarded as the best two teams in the world. So, it was always going to be a fiery affair with some of the most highly skilled, competitive hockey players in the world on both sides. 

But because of the animosity that Donald Trump has suddenly decided to nurture between the two nations, Montreal fans booed the American anthem in their first two games, and on Saturday night, they sang O Canada like their life depended on it. That seemed to finally drain all the friendly out of the rivalry.

In a shocking development, the two clubs got into three fights in the game's first nine seconds. If we're being honest, the first two fights appeared completely premeditated, orchestrated by the Tkachuk family. Matthew and Brady admitted as much after the game.

Canada's Brandon Hagel says as American right winger Matthew Tkachuk lined up against him to start the game, he asked him if he wanted to go. Hagel told the Sportsnet intermission crew that the fight had been "a long time coming" and "I'm not backing down from him." 

Then it was Brady's turn, dropping the gloves with Sam Bennett, who had to be champing at the bit after being a healthy scratch in game one. When that scrap was done, Matthew was leaning out of the penalty box, ready with a high five for the Ottawa Senators captain.

Matthew said after the game that the fights had nothing to do with the booing.

From there, it looked like the two clubs were ready to play some hockey. That lasted six seconds. With emotions now running high, J.T. Miller cross-checked Colton Parayko, and Parayko immediately made him regret it.

It's easy to imagine Elias Pettersson making that fight his new screensaver.

The two sides played a skilled, heavy hitting contest after that, but it will be the start of the game that will never be forgottten.

As it was in 1972, when Canada and the Soviet Union met in the eight-game Summit Series, the two best hockey nations in the world were not only battling to prove which team was best, but both games had heavy political undertones. But unlike the Summit Series, this time you had two teams who were more than willing to drop the gloves.

The Americans came away with a 3-1 regulation victory on Saturday night. After an amazing early backhand goal by Connor McDavid, it looked like the start of something good for Canada. It turned out to be the end of their offence.

Five minutes later, Jordan Binnington allowed a soft bad angle goal from Jake Guentzel that tied the game. Neither team could generate a ton after that, but Dylan Larkin scored the winner at the 13:33 mark of the second period. Guentzel put the tight checking affair away with an empty-netter in the third.

The win puts the United States into the final with 6 points. Canada is now tied with Finland and Sweden at 2 points, but still controls its own destiny. Canada will also advance to the final with a regulation win against Finland in their final game.

A Finnish win of any kind would eliminate Canada. A Canada win in overtime would mean they'd need help from the Americans to pull at least a point out of their game on Monday night against Sweden. 

This article is from The Hockey News-Ottawa. For more Ottawa Senators coverage, check out THN.com/Ottawa or join the Senators Roundtable by leaving a comment below.