The highly anticipated game Saturday night between the United States and Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off started with three fights in the first nine seconds. Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel dropped the gloves just after the puck was dropped to start play.

The NHL announced that Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel, Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko, and Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Feb.

When the puck dropped in Montreal’s Bell Centre on Saturday night, Team Canada’s Brandon Hagel dropped his gloves along with Team USA’s Matthew Tkachuk. It was the first of three fights that took place between the hockey rivals in nine seconds for their 4 Nations Face-Off matchup.

Three days after Matthew Tkachuk picked a fight with Brandon Hagel to open the USA-Canada game, the Canadian forward launched a verbal haymaker ahead of the championship of the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel was feeling quite patriotic after helping Canada defeat the United States 3-2 in overtime in Thursday's 4 Nations Face

If you were looking to watch a fight Saturday night, hope you tuned into the US-Canada game early. Naturally, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk were right in the middle of it. Saturday’s game opened with two fights on successive faceoffs: Matthew Tkachuk dropped the gloves and fought Tampa Bay/Canada forward Brandon Hagel.

Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel added fuel to the fire with direct jabs at each other ahead of the 4 Nations Final between Team USA and Team Canada.

It appears that the feeling was mutual between Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel. Immediately following puck drop on Saturday’s 4 Nations Face-Off match between USA and Canada, won 3-1 by the Americans, Tkachuk and Hagel threw their gloves to the ground and sparred with each other.