US hockey star Charlie McAvoy receives praise for big hit on Canada’s Connor McDavid in intense 4 Nations game [Video]

The 4 Nations Face-Off matchup between the U.S. and Canada had sports fans everywhere talking about the anthem booing and the three subsequent fights in the first 9 seconds of the game.

Lost in that is what the U.S. had to overcome to win the matchup and advance to the final.

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Canada’s Connor McDavid opened the scoring soon after when the electricity was at its highest. Canada hoped to steal one and send their fans home happy, but the U.S. looked to reset the tone immediately after, and the Americans believed Charlie McAvoy did just that.

McAvoy put a big hit on McDavid in the first period, and 19 seconds later, Jake Guentzel got the equalizer past Jordan Binnington. Matthew Tkachuk said it was McAvoy’s hit that revitalized the team.

“That also is a message-sending moment — probably one of the plays of the game,” the Florida Panthers star said. “They just scored a …