MONTREAL >> Charlie McAvoy lined up Connor McDavid and delivered a textbook hit that sent the best hockey player in the world careening into the glass and down to the ice.

A mere 19 seconds later, Jake Guentzel scored the tying goal — McDavid scored the first one — on the way to the United States beating Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday night in an epic clash of the two rivals. Top-line forward Matthew Tkachuk, who fought two seconds after the puck dropped to send a message, raved about McAvoy making a big impression.

“That also is a message-sending moment — probably one of the plays of the game,” Tkachuk said. “They just scored a goal, the building was rocking and Charlie comes there and pops McDavid, like one of the hardest hits I’ve seen.”

And it wasn’t McAvoy’s only hit. He also rocked Sidney Crosby in the first minute.

Coach Mike Sullivan, whose daughter Kiley is married to McAvoy, has several times mentioned how special it is to be on the same team with his son-in-law for the first time.

“Charlie is a fierce competitor,” Sullivan said. “I watch him when he plays for the Bruins. I watch what he does for them. It’s been such a privilege for me to have an opportunity to coach him here at an event like this.”Tkachuk called McAvoy one of the best U.S. players against Canada, adding, ‘I think the rest of us, we followed him.”

It was easy to follow McAvoy given how he was leading by throwing his body around with reckless abandon.

“That hit Charlie threw on (McDavid) was kind of a game-changer,” defense partner Zach Werenski said. “He’s been known to do that. He’s great with his size, he’s really good defensively and I thought that was a perfectly timed hit to get our team going in the right direction.”

McAvoy now gets to play the championship game in his NHL home arena on Thursday night at TD Garden in Boston.

49ers’ Kittle supports friend Forsberg >> 49ers tight end George Kittle was among the fans in attendance for the Sweden-Finland game Saturday at Bell Centre. Kittle and Sweden’s Filip Forsberg have gotten to know each other in recent years through their wives, Clair and Erin Alvey, who are best friends and came up with the idea for the trip.

“They’re like, ‘Hey, we have a little opening in our schedule, why would you not want to go to Montreal, Canada, in February?’” Kittle said during the first intermission. “Super happy that I’m here. What an amazing atmosphere.”

The two-time All-Pro wore Sweden’s yellow jersey with the country’s trademark three crows and Forsberg’s name and No. 9 on the back, along with a hat featuring the Swedish flag and fake yellow and blue hair.

“Fil brought everything,” Kittle said. “Filip brought this for me and he goes, ‘You have to wear this.’ I said, ‘All right, I will do that.’ ”

Claire Kittle said her husband really bought in to the whole experience with the Sweden-colored hair. The couple also got tickets for the U.S.-Canada game Saturday night, but George is all in on supporting Forsberg and Sweden.

“When you get to perform for your country, I think it’s a big deal and the chance to do it so close to where I can actually go see him I think is a very special thing,” Kittle said. “My first time ever doing something like this. A very unique experience, you can just kind of tell how the love of hockey just goes through everybody.”

Forsberg similarly has become a fan of all things NFL, not knowing much about American football while growing up in Sweden. He said in 2023 he did 50 hours of research for his first fantasy football draft and made the final in his first season doing it.

Dude, where’s Makar? >> Cale Makar missed Canada’s game against the U.S. with what the team has called an illness. He took part in an optional practice Sunday and coach Jon Cooper said Makar was trending in the right direction to play in a must-win game against Finland today, but it will be a game-time decision.

“I’m going to do everything I can to play,” Makar told reporters in Boston. “I got to do what’s, unfortunately, best for myself and make sure I’m ready to go for the rest of the season.”