If you weren’t bought in for the 4 Nations Face-Off, you should be now.
Canada and Sweden put on a classic at Bell Centre on Wednesday in the tournament’s opening game.
Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews were three of the five skaters starting the game for Team Canada. The 66+ minutes of hockey that followed were incredible.
10 Observations
1. That pre-game ceremony with Teemu Selanne, Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Richter, and Mario Lemieux was spectacular. I’ve been pumped for this tournament to begin for weeks but I didn’t get that true jolt of excitement until those four guys joined the captains at center ice. Loved the chants for Lemieux from the Bell Centre crowd.
2. Best-on-best international hockey is the best way to market this sport. The NHL has an opportunity to right the wrong of the past 11 years with the upcoming every-other-year cadence for Olympic participation and the World Cup of Hockey. I truly hope they take full advantage of it.
3. If you had any doubt that the players were bought in, look no further than the opening sequence. MacKinnon goes barreling into the offensive zone on the forecheck and finishes the body on Jonas Brodin. He eventually eats a high stick, draws a penalty, then scores quickly on the power play.
4. I don’t remember the last time I watched MacKinnon smile like that. Getting a spectacular feed from Sidney Crosby on the PP will do that. Everything about that star-studded man-advantage was a thing of beauty. But more importantly, it proved that MacKinnon and Crosby have real chemistry. All the reps they’ve had with each other during the summers have meant something.
But seriously. Makar to Connor McDavid to Crosby to MacKinnon for the goal. Legendary.
5. I wonder if this tournament makes Crosby change his tune about leaving Pittsburgh. You could see the drive and hunger in his eyes on every shift. He’s still got it and that chemistry with MacKinnon in Colorado would be a wonderful way to end his career. Make it happen, Sid. You owe it to yourself to win again.
6. Jordan Binnington deserves praise for that OT. He let in two shaky goals but made up for it with two exceptional stops during the 3-on-3. I wonder if he plays against Team USA on Saturday or if Jon Cooper gives Adin Hill a shot.
7. Makar led Team Canada with 28:06 of ice time. Second place? Toews — 25:53. They were far and away the ice time leaders and they ran the blueline. Cooper had them out there to start every period, on the PK, and both got multiple shifts in OT.
8. Kudos to goaltender Filip Gustavsson for robbing Toews in the third period. He salvaged a point for Sweden with that one.
9. MacKinnon wanted that OT winner so badly. He had five of Canada’s eight shots during the 3-on-3 period and finished with a game-leading six.
10. The game-winning goal was a great shot and should serve as a reminder to Mitch Marner that he needs to shoot more. But the best part of that play? Crosby drawing both defensemen deep into the Sweden end on a harmless play at the end of his shift before snapping it back for Marner and getting onside in time. Marner had separation because the defenders were pushed back and used it to his advantage. Great play, pass, and shot. Legendary stuff all around.
