Throughout the 4 Nations Faceoff, we’ll be keeping track of all the action and bringing you all of the results in one place.
Sweden vs. Canada
Last night saw the first installment of four nations facing off, and the tournament could not have kicked off in a more exciting way than it did in this matchup between Sweden and Canada in Montreal.
All of the energy in the building — even palpable from the broadcast — was feeding into the Canadian side, and they had all of the early jump. A very early power play (just 44 seconds into the game, on a high-stick from William Nylander) also gave them an advantage, and an opportunity that they didn’t waste. The Canadian power play unit made quick work of it, and just 12 seconds later, a bit of nifty passing from Nathan MacKinnon to Sidney Crosby to MacKinnon again culminated in Canada’s first goal of the tournament.
The power play certainly gave them some early momentum, and they weren’t going to give it up any time soon. Canada was dominating, bringing all of the pressure early, and before the Swedes could even register their first shot on goal, Canada was able to extend their lead to two after Brayden Point created a nice opportunity on the rush, and Brad Marchand finished off his setup. It wasn’t all perfect for Canada — they lost Shea Theodore about halfway through the first period when he looked to injure himself bracing for a big hit from Adrien Kempe along the boards, heading down the tunnel and not returning — but there’s no denying the early momentum was theirs.
Sweden, to their credit, did well to regroup at the intermission and began to get going to start the middle frame. They were able to chip away at it, getting some chances on net and finally converting on one just before the midpoint of the period, when a passing screen in front of Jordan Binnington seemed to throw him off, and Jonas Brodin was able to sneak a shot past him to get the Swedes on the board. It was a nice bit of momentum that they were working to build, but it was somewhat short-lived, as Canada responded before the period was out. And again it was Crosby putting in the work — he got the Canadians into the offensive zone, leading the rush and fighting off pressure from the Swedish defender, and set up Mark Stone in the slot for the goal to restore their two-goal lead before the second intermission hit.
But just as it was looking like Canada might be able to run away with this game after all, the Swedes found their legs again, and rallied in a big way come the third period. It began early, with Kempe scoring just inside the two minute mark to pull them back within one. And despite Canada’s efforts to contain them, their one relative weakness at the goaltending position burned them again, and with a tic-tac-toe bit of passing, Joel Eriksson Ek was able to convert and tie things up.
Sweden might have been looking to fully pull off the upset of Canada in their first game on home soil, and while they made it interested to say the least, they ultimately fell short in the end. It took just over six minutes into the overtime frame — as a sidebar, the 10-minute overtime format whips — but Canada was able to pull off the win on a goal from Mitch Marner, fed by, who else, but Sidney Crosby, putting out a fire once again.
Final: Canada 4 – Sweden 3 (OT)
Next game up (SWE): Feb 15, 1:00 ET vs. Finland
Next game up (CAN): Feb 15, 8:00 ET vs. USA
