“You boo us we boo you it’s that simple”: Fans react as Canadian anthem at MSG meets with loud boos during Rangers-Leafs showdown

The crowd at Madison Square Garden booed the Canadian national anthem before the Toronto Maple Leafs faced the New York Rangers on Friday night. The reaction mirrored past incidents, including one at the 4 Nations Faceoff in Boston.

Many view the booing as a response to Canadian fans jeering "The Star-Spangled Banner" at recent NHL games. That trend began after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on Canada, prompting American fans to retaliate in kind.

B/R Open Ice posted a video of the boos on X (formerly Twitter), and fans' reactions followed.

"You boo us we boo you It’s that simple," a fan said.

"Boo Canada for beating us at hockey and booing us when we threatened to invade and annex their country and started an economic war. Boooooo!" another fan commented.

"I say we boo both anthems until they stop playing them," one user said.

Here are some more reactions from fans on X.

"This is not the right thing to do - don’t boo any anthem during a sporting event. Guarantee you that no one in that building has any say in what the US or Canada will do in terms of trade," a fan said.

"Canadians have no one to blame but themselves. Softest country on earth couldn’t take some jokes and are incapable of understanding the art of negotiating so they had a meltdown. Now we resort to this bc we have to finish what they started," another fan commented.

"Loud boos? Ah, the crowd's just mad they can't afford a box seat like me. Gotta love the drama, it's basically a live-action soap opera, but with more hockey and less plot," one user wrote.

Toronto Maple Leafs defeat Rangers 3-2 with Knies’ game-winning goal

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson opened the scoring at 1:47 of the first period on a power play, converting a Max Domi pass. Mika Zibanejad tied it 1-1 at 13:08, redirecting Will Borgen’s pass into the net.

William Nylander put Toronto ahead 2-1 just 51 seconds into the second period. Jake McCabe’s stretch pass set up Nylander, whose shot sat on the goal line before Urho Vaakanainen accidentally knocked it in off Igor Shesterkin’s glove.

The Rangers tied it 2-2 with a shorthanded goal at 3:47 of the third period. Nicholas Robertson lost the puck, leading to Will Cuylle’s goal off a Mika Zibanejad pass.

Matthew Knies scored the game-winner at 6:21, finishing a feed from Auston Matthews after Mitch Marner stopped Shesterkin’s clearing attempt.

Anthony Stolarz made 33 saves for Toronto, which has won four straight.