An ice hockey match between the United States and Canada kicked off in the most chaotic fashion as three fights broke out in the first nine seconds of play.
The teams met in front of 21,105 fans at the Bell Centre in Montreal for a 4 Nations Face-Off fixture on Saturday which the US won 3-1 despite the blockbuster start.
Brandon Hagel and Matthew Tkachuk, from Canada and the US respectively, were the first two players to be dismissed as they clashed just two seconds into the game sparking a second fight to erupt between Tkachuk’s brother Brady and his opponent Sam Bennett only a second later.
A third fight then escalated the tension as the USA’s JT Miller dropped gloves with Canada’s Colton Parayko just nine seconds into the first period.
"That was one of the best experiences of my life," US forward Dylan Larkin said after the game. "Just an unbelievable hockey game."
Victory for the US confirmed their spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final thanks to two goals from Jake Guentzel and one for Larkin. Connor McDavid scored the consolation for Canada.
Of the wild start, US coach Mike Sullivan said: "I just think it's very indicative of what this means to the players. There's two teams out there that are very competitive, that have a ton of pride for their respective teams and their countries.
"For me, when you have an investment in trying to win like the way that it occurred, I think that's an indication of it. What an incredible hockey game."
"Mayhem," Canada coach Jon Cooper added. "That was the first minute. It wasn't planned.
"That wasn't two coaches throwing guys over and saying 'This is happening' - none of that happened. That was as organic as it gets."
A tense political backdrop between the nations will have contributed to the partisan home crowd loudly booing the US national anthem before the start of the match, a practice which has become popular for NHL and NBA matches played in Canada.
Adding to that was the fact that the top NHL players rarely feature on the international stage and it has been 10 years since they represented their countries.
Cooper said: "It was probably I guess 10 years of no international hockey exhaled in a minute and a half."
Matthew Tkachuk, who initiated the first fight, explained that the US team wanted to send a message to their opponents.
"I think the message we wanted to send is 'It's our time,'" he said. "We're in a hostile environment, and we wanted to show that we're not backing down.
“They've had so much success over so many years over there. They're some of the best players in the world. We felt in this environment it was a good time to do it. It was a lot of fun.
“You've got to give credit to those guys, as well. They did the exact same thing that we did. I thought it was great energy from both sides, and the building was shaking after the third one."
Canada now face Finland on Monday in their final match of the pool stage, while the US play Sweden.
