The 3-1 victory went to a USA group rallied around captain Auston Matthews (27) - and those who missed the start of the match missed a lot. All it took was nine seconds of net time and the penalty box filled up after three stellar fights.
"It was a blowout," Canadian coach Jon Cooper said after the game
The two teams last faced each other with full rosters at the 2016 World Cup, so showing who had more strength and quality was a matter of prestige.
"I think almost ten years without a proper international tournament has been summed up in about one and a half minutes," Cooper continued.
What exactly was he talking about?
The electrifying atmosphere during the opening faceoff culminated when the gloves of Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel - the NHL's twenty-fourth and fifteenth men in scoring, respectively - also fell off when the puck hit the ice. The two together, by the way, are making over $20 million this season!
There was no fearful hugging during the brawl. Fists were flying through the air and the fact that Tkachuk plays for Florida and Hagel for rival Tampa Bay may have spilled over into the melee.
The American ended up on the ground first, but the brawl was even. "We wanted to make it clear that now is our time," Tkachuk told TSN, but Hagel, who normally doesn't fight, didn't get upset.
Brady Tkachuk also watched the brawl very closely and was quick to join in. "We'll be next," he reportedly yelled to Sam Bennett on the bench. This time it took only a second after the next buzzer and the excited crowd was ready for the sequel.
In this case, Tkachuk wasn't done on the ground first, he outplayed the smaller but tenacious Bennett and the crowd was on a roll.
Bennett admitted he had a special motivation as well, with Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, among the 21,105 in the audience. "It's not often that you can fight for your country like that," explained the 2024 Stanley Cup winner and 2014 top-four draft pick.
And that wasn't all, as the Tkachuk brothers admitted after the game that they had planned the sharp start to the duel in a pre-game group chat with J.T. Miller.
The latter went to join them just a few seconds later, and after the puck was put on the net, the forward went to get defenceman Colton Parayko and challenged him to a duel as well.
And he didn't shy away from the height difference.
But the stars of Team Canada embraced it all.
"To be a part of something like that was great, it was great to see from that trio how much this tournament means to the players," said star forward Connor McDavid, Canada's only successful scorer, and team captain Sidney Crosby had the same look on his face. "There was commitment and emotion, that's what we expected," the veteran added.
In the rest of the game, both teams showed discipline, with only two minor penalties. The game was similarly tight on goals, with only four falling, the last of which came during the final power play. The hero was Jake Guentzel, who scored twice.
"The result is unfortunate, but I'm extremely proud of the guys. Now it's up to us, we have to find a way to challenge Finland," Cooper continued.
Team USA has already secured the top spot in the table and an automatic spot in the championship. Meanwhile, Canada, Finland, and Sweden are tied on two points, so the second-place finisher won't be decided until the final matches.