The 2025-26 season is underway for every team, and the majority of games are stacked before February. That's because NHL players will be heading to Italy to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics. This is the first time since 2014 where NHL players will be allowed to compete in the Olympics, so the stakes are high for each country.
For the United States, they fell just short of winning the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off, as they took Canada to overtime, before losing on a goal to Connor McDavid. But earlier in the tournament, Team USA defeated Canada for the first time in international play since the group-play stage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.