Watch: Heated fight breaks out as USA beat Canada 3-1 in 4 Nations

USA downs Canada 3-1, clinching a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final and snapping Canada’s 17-game unbeaten streak.

The United States defeated Canada 3-1 on Saturday to secure a place in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game.

The U.S., which remains unbeaten after two matches, will play Sweden in its final round-robin game on Monday but has already advanced to the final with six points.

The match began with a heated start, as three fights erupted within the opening nine seconds.

Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel dropped the gloves immediately after the faceoff, followed by Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett squaring off. J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko fought six seconds later.

"Right when we found out the starting lineup, he said he wanted a piece of him," Brady Tkachuk said of his brother’s fight.

Hagel, who has faced Tkachuk's Florida Panthers regularly as a Tampa Bay Lightning player, said he expected the challenge.

"He asked, and I'm not going to back down. I think me and him have a pretty good history just going back and forth throughout the season.

I thought potentially if we started together he was going to ask me. Long time coming," Hagel said.

Connor McDavid opened the scoring for Canada in the first period, but the team struggled to break through U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a Vezina Trophy frontrunner.

Jake Guentzel equalised less than five minutes after McDavid’s goal, and Dylan Larkin netted the game-winner with 6:27 left in the second period. Guentzel added an empty-net goal, bringing his tournament tally to three.

The United States controlled play after taking the lead, holding Canada to eight shots in the third period.

The defeat ended Canada’s 17-game winning streak in best-on-best competition, a run dating back to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where it lost to the U.S. in the preliminary round before winning the gold-medal game.

Canada will reach the final with a regulation win over Finland on Monday. Sweden, Finland, and Canada each have two points.