Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States on Thursday night as the North American rivals turned what had been a tune-up for the 2026 Olympics into an geopolitical brawl over anthems and annexation as much as international hockey supremacy.

Fans in Montreal loudly booed the U.S. national anthem prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off game between the Americans and host Canada.

Saturday night crystallized how two trades made over the previous summers benefited three teams in a way they usually don’t in the NHL.

Alex Ovechkin scored the 877th goal of his career to move 18 away from breaking the NHL record, but the Washington Capitals lost 5-4 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets in a showdown of the top two teams in the NHL that lived up to that billing.

It didn’t take much to stir Jack Eichel’s national pride in looking ahead to representing the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.

The U.

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon was the big winner at Thursday’s NHL awards show, taking home the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s MVP as the Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player as decided by the NHL Players Association.

A slew of big NHL names will be heading back onto NHL playoff ice on Tuesday night with 1-0 series leads.

Chandler Stephenson scored twice and the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Winnipeg Jets from their Western Conference opening-round series with a 4-1 victory in Game 5.

Moritz Seider had four assists, tying the Red Wings’ single-game franchise record for a defenseman, and Detroit beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-5 to snap a three-game skid.

Sam Gagner scored twice to top 500 career points, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1.

Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for his second shutout of the season and Andrew Copp scored twice in the Winnipeg Jets’ 3-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

The NHL is not sending players to the Beijing Olympics after all.

The NHL regular season is two weeks away.

The NHL and international officials are now in wait-and-see mode after reaching an agreement to send players to the Beijing Olympics this winter.

The NHL is in the most difficult position among the four major North American professional sports leagues on vaccinations because seven of its teams are based in Canada.

EDMONTON, AB - FEBRUARY 17: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers skates the puck against Mark Scheifele #55 of the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Place on February 17, 2021 in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)EDMONTON, AB – Oilers captain Connor McDavid has joined an elite club. McDavid notched his 500th NHL point with a first-period assist in Wednesday night's 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The 24-year-old center, from Richmond Hill, Ontario, is the 21st player in NHL history to accomplish the feat before his 25th birthday. McDavid now has 171 goals and 330 assists in his career and leads the NHL in points this season with nine goals and 22 assists in 18 games.

Draisaitl has won the Hart Trophy as MVP after leading the NHL in scoring. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)EDMONTON, AB – The Stanley Cup Final is in Edmonton, and Oilers star Leon Draisaitl made history Monday night. Draisaitl became the first German player to win the Hart Trophy as MVP after leading the league in scoring with 110 points in 71 games. Draisaitl is the second Oilers player to win the Hart in the past four years following Connor McDavid, who is widely considered the best hockey player in the world. “But there’s nothing that comes ahead of the Stanley Cup.