USA vs. Canada hockey rivalry boils over with 3 fights in first 9 ...

The heated hockey rivalry between the United States and Canada boiled over quickly on Saturday. As the two teams faced off for the first time since the 2022 Olympics, the game erupted into three fights within the first nine seconds of play.

It took only two seconds for Team USA's Matthew Tkachuk and Team Canada's Brandon Hagel to come to blows: The two went gloves off moments after the face-off.

Not wanting to be left out, Tkachuk's brother, Brady Tkachuk, joined in one second after play restarted, taking on Canada's Sam Bennett.

Six seconds later, a scrum around the Canadian goal turned into another fight, this time between American JT Miller and Canada's Colton Parayko.

Hagel told Sportsnet during the first intermission that Matthew Tkachuk had initiated the fight, asking Hagel before puck drop if he wanted to start the game with gloves off.

"Just try to get some energy into the building," Hagel said. "He asked, and I'm not backing down from him."

The Americans' heated tempers were likely exacerbated by the home Canadian crowd, who also loudly booed throughout the U.S. national anthem before the game.

But this is also the first time in a while that the passionate rivalry has had a chance to be realized: Saturday's matchup marked the first time in a decade that the two teams have met with a full roster of NHL All-Stars. The NHL pulled its players out of the 2018 and 2022 Olympics, with Team USA and Team Canada sending youth players and players from other leagues to Pyeongchang and Beijing instead.

USA vs. Canada is the marquee matchup of the 4 Nations Face-off, which also includes Sweden and Finland. The tournament, played in lieu of an NHL All-Star game, has started with a round robin between the four teams, followed by a final between the top two teams in the group.

Connor McDavid gave Canada the 1-0 lead after five minutes of play, powering past the U.S. defense to get the puck into the net first. But the U.S. soon followed, with Jake Guentzel scoring off a pass from Jack Eichel. In the second period, USA's Dylan Larkin scored to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead.

Canada pulled goalie Jordan Binnington in the final two minutes in an attempt to find an equalizer, but Guentzel notched his second goal of the game with an empty-netter to seal the 3-1 win.

With the win, the United States has clinched a spot in the 4 Nations Face-off final.