Brad Marchand scores World Cup-winning goal for Canada (Video)

Brad Marchand capped off his incredible World Cup of Hockey campaign by scoring the game-winning goal for Canada while shorthanded.

Even though Sidney Crosby won the World Cup MVP, nobody had a better tournament than Brad Marchand. Despite coming off of a 37-goal season, Marchand’s stock rose incredibly high.

Playing on a line with Crosby and Boston Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron, Marchand finished the World Cup with five goals and three assists, but none was bigger than this one that won Canada the World Cup:

Marchand has carved out a reputation as one of the biggest pests in the NHL. But he has proven over the last season that he can be a real goal-scoring threat, and a nightmare for top-pairing defensemen to deal with. Even though Marchand spent most of the World Cup on Crosby’s wing, Jonathan Toews’ excellent work to create space led to this goal.

That’s why, on the back of the World Cup, he received an eight-year, $49 million contract extension to stay with the Bruins, although they also did that to silence all of the trade rumors to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Call it destiny, or a cruel twist of irony, but having two Bruins players score the game-tying, then winning, goals in the last minute in Toronto was something to behold. While they received a hero’s reception in this game, the Air Canada Centre will go back to booing them once the NHL season starts again.

Next: NHL's All-Time Canadian First and Second Teams

Some will criticize the World Cup for being a tournament purely driven by money, while others will continue to mourn the early exit of Team North America. But it still provided some memorable moments, and while Canada was boring through most of the tournament, their final game was full of drama. And when they celebrated winning the World Cup, they treated it like any other competition.

But with the NHL season starting in a week, these players will have to shift gears quickly.