4 Nations: Former Penguins Star Leads Charge In USA's Thrilling 3-1 Victory Over Canada

Former Penguins forward Jake Guentzel led the way in Team USA's first win over Canada in international play since round-robin play in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics

The hockey world waited nine long years to witness Team USA and Team Canada take the ice for one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.

And Saturday night's 4 Nations Face-off matchup did not disappoint. 

There were three fights in the first nine seconds of the game, which set the tone for everything that followed. Ex-Pittsburgh Penguin Jake Guentzel scored two goals - including an empty-netter at the end to seal it - en route to a 3-1 victory for Team USA over Team Canada.

Guentzel now leads all 4 Nations players in goals with three, and he is tied with USA defenseman Zach Werenski for the overall lead in points. 

The 4 Nations Face-off has been Guentzel's first crack at international play at the professional level, and his first USA-Canada game isn't an experience he'll soon forget.

"That was just unbelievable, honestly," Guentzel said. "Obviously, the start of the game - that was pretty electric, getting the fans into it. So, hats off to those guys. But, yeah, it was a good team effort."

Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan hasn't been surprised in the least to see Guentzel step up in a big way, especially after coaching him for most of his first eight NHL seasons in Pittsburgh before Guentzel was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes at the 2024 trade deadline.

"I'm not surprised at all," Sullivan said, "I watched it firsthand for a lot of years. He's a high-stakes player. He plays his very best when it means the most, and I don't think there's a stage big enough for him. I think he thrives in these types of environments. He's such a smart hockey player. He plays on both sides of the puck. I'm not surprised at all."

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Canada got off to a good start in the game, as Connor McDavid opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first period off a burst of speed in the neutral zone and subsequent finish on a self-generated chance. Then, five minutes later, Guentzel scored his first goal of the game, which came on a feed from Jack Eichel off the rush.

The game was back-and forth for the rest of the first period and into the second frame, as Canada was generating chances with their speed - all stopped by USA goaltender Connor Hellebuyck - and the U.S. was using their physicality and aggressive forechecking to counterattack. 

And that aggressiveness is, ultimately, what led to their game-winning goal. 

With less than seven minutes remaining in the second period, Team USA's trap-style defense forced Canadian captain - and Penguins captain - Sidney Crosby into a quick-passing decision in the offensive zone, and he attempted a cross-ice feed. Instead, the pass was intercepted by Matt Boldy and quickly turned around to Dylan Larkin on a two-on-one - the result of a poor line change by Canadian defensemen - and he buried the opportunity.

And from there, Team USA made no mistakes. They played a suffocating, shutdown brand of hockey in the third period to limit Canada's chances. McDavid, Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Sam Reinhart, and Mitch Marner combined for just six shots in the game. 

It was Crosby's first international loss in 27 games since a round-robin defeat to Team USA at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. 

"As talented as this team is, it's hard to win a championship in any capacity if you're not willing and committed to play defense," Sullivan said. "We know this group is capable of scoring goals. There's a plethora of talent all over the lineup, as there is for every other nation that's in this tournament. Our challenge - and this was the discussion we've had with our guys from Day One - is to become a team, and our challenge is to make sure that we're committed to play the game the right way... in particular, we're committed to play away from the puck. 

"That gives us the opportunity to act on our talent. We've got some great game-breaking players offensively. If we continue to make the commitment to play defense the way we have in the first two games, it certainly gives us a much better opportunity to have success."

With the regulation win against Canada, Team USA has clinched a spot in the 4 Nations championship game on Thursday. Team Canada - whose two points currently tie them with Finland and Sweden - will punch their ticket to the championship game with a regulation win against Finland on Monday, as they would have the tiebreaker on Sweden in the event of a regulation win by them against Team USA.

The remainer of the tournament will be played at T.D. Garden in Boston.

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