The 51st state might have to wait a while, thanks to hockey.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter late Thursday night to crow about the 4 Nations Face-Off, which Canada won with a 3-2 overtime victory over the U.S.

“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Mr. Trudeau wrote on X moments after the overtime goal by Connor McDavid.

The week-long tournament, which also featured all-star teams from Sweden and Finland, took on an unexpectedly hard political edge.

President Trump has been openly declaring his intent to make Canada part of the United States, which was at first taken as Trumpian hyperbole and trolling. But he persisted beyond day-or-two schtick by, among other things, repeatedly referring to Mr. Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.”

The weeks of Canadian backlash culminated in the group-stage game last week between Canada and the U.S., in which the fans in Montreal loudly booed “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Once the puck dropped, the U.S. and Canadian players got into multiple fights in just the first minute of the game — a not-unprecedented thing in the NHL, but totally unexpected for a first-time tournament that is filling the NHL’s “All-Star break.”

For his part, Mr. Trump had no immediate comment on the game on his Truth Social feed.

He had called the U.S. team to encourage them before the game, though he had to turn down an invitation to attend the game in person in Boston because of his previously scheduled speech to Republican governors.

There is an asymmetry of interest in the sport.

While hockey is popular in the U.S., the NHL only ranks fourth among the major sports leagues in U.S. popularity and less than 30% of the league’s players are Americans. But in Canada, like with Europe and soccer, there is hockey and then everything else.

• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.