Sidney Crosby got the crowd roaring with a no-look pass to Nathan MacKinnon for a slam dunk power-play goal in the first minute, and then set up Mitch Marner’s overtime winner as Canada beat Sweden 4-3 in their 4 Nations Face-Off opener.
At 37, Crosby proved he still has it, with three assists to lead his team to victory. Coach Jon Cooper praised Crosby, saying he will go down as the greatest player to ever represent Canada and might even be on Mount Rushmore alongside other hockey legends.
Crosby’s performance was impressive, and so was that of Connor McDavid, who picked up a secondary assist on MacKinnon’s goal. Meanwhile, Brad Marchand scored for Canada despite being booed by the Montreal crowd, and Marner got to enjoy his childhood idol setting him up for the game-winning goal.
However, Canada lost defenseman Shea Theodore to an injury in the second period, and goalie Jordan Binnington struggled at times. Despite this, Binnington made several key saves, including a spectacular sliding stop on Mika Zibanejad early in overtime.
Sweden’s Filip Gustavsson made 24 saves, but ultimately came up short in goal. The Swedes are off to a tough start, and will look to bounce back against the United States on Thursday night.
Canada will now face Finland in their first 4 Nations game on Thursday night, with several key players expected to play despite Theodore’s injury.
Source: https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/43820051/mitch-marner-scores-canada-outlasts-sweden-4-nations-face-opener