Team Canada defeated Team USA 3-2 in overtime to clinch the 4 Nations Face-Off championship and cap off an incredible tournament on Thursday.

Mitch Marner had a solid outing with two assists on the night, including on the OT winner from Connor McDavid. Auston Matthews was excellent, finishing with two assists of his own and a boat load of chances.

The atmosphere going into the game was loud and intense as fans from both countries were heard chanting well before the teams took to the ice for warmups. It was followed by a lengthy opening ceremony that included Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and American hockey legend Mike Eruzione heading to the ice for the opening faceoff.

Unlike the previous matchup which saw three fights in the opening nine seconds, it was a more business-like affair as both teams were focused on the task at hand to clinch the championship. Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring with a seeing-eye shot from up top that Connor Hellebuyck which silenced the American faithful at TD Garden. But from there, both teams exchanged quality chances that could have tipped the scales of the game in either direction with both goalies standing tall.

Late in the first period, the US dumped the puck into the offensive zone off a neutral zone face-off and then quickly collected by Matthews. He gathered it from behind the net and wrapped it around before Brady Tkachuk knocked in the loose puck that Jordan Binnington missed to tie the game.

The middle frame saw things start to get chippy as scrums after whistles became a more common occurrence with the intensity continuing to ramp up. Eight minutes into the second period, Matthews was once again instrumental in a goal for the Americans as he was in front to shoot a rebound, then created another for Jake Sanderson to bury through the maze of bodies.

The Canadians certainly had their chances from that point on – including a power play chance not long after the Sanderson goal – but to no avail. Their best chance in the second came midway through the second when Sidney Crosby was on the doorstep with the net wider open only to have the puck thwarted away in time by Jaccob Slavin.

Late in the second, Marner had his moment as he led the rush going into the zone and spotted a streaking Sam Bennett coming in from the left side of the ice. He flew in and roofed it past Hellebuyck to even things up again. Momentum shifted in favour of the US in the final frame with a flurry of chances in tight, though Binnington stood tall and even made a big stop on Jake Guentzel. But as time progressed, things evened out and both teams traded blows at either end.

Regulation solved nothing and overtime was required, which played to the rules of the Stanley Cup playoffs where it was 5v5 until someone scored regardless of how long it takes. Early on, Matthews had a glorious chance to win it when he got a shot away in the slot that Binnington knocked away with his blocker. Matthews was involved in another prime opportunity where he was denied again and then fed Brock Nelson who got robbed by Binnington, and then he snagged one from the US captain right off the faceoff.

Then right around the midway mark of the extra frame, the Canadians cycled it around off a faceoff with Cale Makar banking it around to Marner on the opposite end of the ice. He spotted McDavid parked in the slot who made no mistake to clinch the title in front of a mostly American crowd.

While there is no telling if another iteration of the 4 Nations Face-off, this was a huge stepping stone for both Matthews and Marner who proved they can step up in winner-take-all games. They will look to carry that momentum to the Toronto Maple Leafs when they resume their season on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes.