The temperature of the 4 Nations Face-Off has reached a fever pitch. After a scintillating overtime between Finland and Sweden in the afternoon, Team USA and Team Canada took center stage. Within seconds of the game beginning, USA and Canada got into three fights featuring both Tkachuk brothers.

Off the opening faceoff, Matthew Tkachuk dropped the gloves with Canada's Brandon Hagel. These two play on rival NHL teams, the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning respectively, and duked it out in the 4 Nations Face-Off. After that fight, Brady Tkachuk dropped the gloves with his brother's NHL teammate Sam Bennett. After a few seconds finally ticked off, Colton Parayko and JT Miller squared off.

The 4 Nations Face-Off had not had any fights before Saturday night's game. But with all of the energy and anticipation for America against Canada, things got out of hand quickly. The Tkachuk brothers are both elite scoring forwards but bring grit to the game which makes them valuable in big games like this.

Related NewsArticle continues below
[Imagn Images direct customers only] NHL commissioner Gary Bettman addresses the press beside NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly before a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre.
Potential NHL expansion doused with cold water by deputy commissioner
Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov (16) and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) celebrate winning game seven of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
NHL rumors: Expansion speculation gets cold water dumped all over it
Matthew Schaefer in a New York Islanders jersey.
2025 NHL Mock Draft 5.0: Will the Islanders take Matthew Schaefer?

In the scrum that ended in the JT Miller-Colton Parayko bout, Miller picked up an extra penalty for cross-checking. The powerplay ended the fighting and put Canada in the fast lane. While they did not score on that man advantage, it did not take long for Connor McDavid to net the first goal of the 4 Nations Face-Off matchup.

If the Americans are going to beat the Canadians and win the 4 Nations Face-Off, they will have to exploit their goaltending advantage. Before the McDavid goal, Connor Hellbuyck made a ridiculous save, further proving he is the top netminder in the world. Jordan Binnington was great in Canada's opener but has not had the NHL season Hellebuyck has.

Once the fighting was over, the game went into the same script the other 4 Nations Face-Off games have. With high speed and great skill all over the ice, Saturday night should be an epic affair.