The 4 Nations Face-Off immediately exhibited how much star power it has in its opening game.
Team Canada scored the first goal of the tournament: a Nathan MacKinnon power-play goal assisted by Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. All three players are likely to be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame once their careers are through.
The goal came 56 seconds into the game as Sweden’s William Nylander served an early high-sticking penalty.
From the half wall, McDavid passed the puck down to Crosby at the goal line, who twisted and tossed a no-look backhanded pass through to the crease to MacKinnon at the bottom of the left circle. The Avalanche star then fired a one-timer that easily beat Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson.
Canada’s first power-play unit is like a hockey dream team. It consists of McDavid, MacKinnon, and Crosby along with 2022 Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Cale Makar and Panthers forward Sam Reinhart, who led the league in power-play goals with 27 last season.
hey so it turns out these 3 on the same power play unit is good? #4Nations pic.twitter.com/TcgQ3ofFTw
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 13, 2025
It’s worth noting that at times during the first period, McDavid looked like he was playing against a pee-wee team.
During the first intermission, the TNT panel asked Wayne Gretzky about the greatest power play he was ever a part of for Team Canada.
“Well I was lucky enough to play with some great players,” Gretzky said. “Messier, myself, and Mario up front, and then we had three different defensemen picked any of two: Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis, or Ray Bourque. So you know one thing about our power play we were unselfish, and yet we shot the puck, and we have guys… back there that never shot the puck high. It was always on the ice. We get the rebounds, tips. It was a very fun power play to be on.”
The first game of the tournament was held at Montreal’s Bell Centre and the ceremonial faceoff featured representatives from each team. The biggest applause came for French Canadian Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux.
Meanwhile, Team USA’s Auston Matthews was booed ferociously.
Canada vs Sweden is the first of seven games to take place over the nine-day tournament span. The USA and Finland get their first game in on Thursday night.
