Ever since Canada clinched the 4 Nations Cup, Connor McDavid has been the name on everyone’s lips! After all, he scored the last-minute goal that led to victory. It was a dream come true for millions watching their stars smash the opponents with a tough defeat of 3-2 at the Americans’ home, TD Garden, Boston. According to Canada’s head coach Jon Cooper, the performance was the “Canadian Way,” as he emphasized Canada’s core values of respect and sacrifice, which the team displayed perfectly as they left their control over the puck and moved away from it.

“And yeah, did we need a win? Not only our team, but Canada needed a win, and the players bared that on their shoulders,” Cooper explained. As for the players, it has been McDavid who stole the spotlight, but here’s what is intriguing—he shifted the credit elsewhere. David revealed the actual last-minute strategy that established the success.

If the game had a spark beyond McDavid’s performance, then what is it? David’s words. “Credit to Coop and his staff for, you know, for not just riding with something, you know, kind of always changing it up whenever he felt like there was something that needed changing, and yeah, our line had a bit of a tough night,” he said post match to the media in Boston. But what was this strategic move? While the game went on with fierce moves from each side, it was the nail-biting moment of a 2-2 score when the head coach decided to bring the change that was needed. And, quite effectively so.

He adjusted the team’s offensive lines by paring McDavid with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. Prior to the match, Cooper had said, “Sometimes, you just have to cut your losses. Not every shift is going to be a win. Sometimes, there are ties. If you can have a whole bunch of ties and mix in a few wins without any losses, it is a pretty damn good game for you.” What did Copper mean by maintaining ties and cutting losses. Consider his last-minute change. He simply reorganized the forward lines as he paired McDavid with Crosby and MacKinnon.

He created the ties among these elite players, who then created the opportunity for wins.

Connor McDavid seals the win!

Even though the Americans faced a defeat, they made all their efforts till the last moment. Auston Matthews just had the perfect chance to lead the score, but Canada didn’t let that happen. Two things kept them alive—Matthews’s save by Jordan Binnington and David’s last-moment stunt.

At 8:18, the USA defense just broke down, leaving David wide open in front of the net. And that was it. Mitch Marner took no time to observe this chance and passed the puck to David, who fired it past Connor Hellebuyck! As and when Cooper shouted, “Somebody please be selfish and shoot it in the net,” David hit the shot. As for David’s splendid performance, he called him the greatest in the world. He said, “When you have leaders and players of his talent cheering as loud for the guys playing in front of him while he is not on the ice, it kind of says something about how special he is.”

Remember what J.T. Miller said as he looked forward to this match? “If you let those guys come out, with David flying around to start the game and Kinnon flying around, that could become a contagious and infectious thing in that building”—the USA’s biggest fear came alive! These players did just that with their unbeatable speed and exceptional playmaking!

While the USA failed in matching the intensity and building momentum at the beginning, as planned, Cooper’s one quick feet thinking just made it all happen. It created a formidable line that the opposition lacked, but made McDavid score his ultimate winning goal!