(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The 4 Nations Face-Off got underway Wednesday with Team Canada getting out to a quick start, and then having to beat Sweden, 4-3, in overtime.
With the game in Montreal and the fans screaming, Swedish winger Will Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) took a high sticking penalty just 44 seconds into the game.
That eventually led to the superstars of the NHL putting together the prettiest goal you’ll ever see. Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) made a pass to Canadian captain Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), who was at the net and spun to the backhand to find a wide-open Nate MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche), who scored in the gaping net just 56 seconds into the game.
McDavid put on a clinic, as Canada just dominated in the opening 20 minutes.
Later in the period, center Brayden Point (Tampa Bay Lightning) led a 2-on-1 with Brad Marchand (Boston Bruins), and found the winger for an easy layup.
Sweden goaltender Filip Gustafsson (Minnesota Wild) had no chance on either goal in the first period.
Goaltending could be a problem for Canada, but in the first period, Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues) didn't face much of a challenge, having to only make three saves.
Sweden adjusted to open the second period, knowing they couldn’t run-and-gun with the speed and talent of Canada. They tightened up on defense, and only allowed seven shots on goal.
Midway through the period, defenseman Jonas Brodin (Wild) used a moving screen from winger Rickard Rakell (Penguins) to cut Canada’s lead in half.
Before the period was over, though, Crosby made another jaw-dropping play, putting a spin-o-rama on Swedish defenseman Gustav Forsling (Florida Panthers), and then dished to an open Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights) coming down the slot.
Canada took a 3-1 lead into the third period of play, but Sweden played an even tighter game in the final 20 minutes of regulation, giving up just six shots on goal.
Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings) set up his NHL teammate Drew Doughty to screen Binnington, and the Swedes were back to within one, 3-2.
Doughty has only played six games this season, and was chosen for Canada when defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (Golden Knights) had to pull out of the in-season tournament due to injury. This game showed why putting Doughty on the team in this type of competition after he’s missed almost the whole season was a huge mistake.
Not only did he not play the Kempe goal well, on the Brodin goal, he easily got outworked by Lucas Raymond (Detroit Red Wings), who just pushed the defender out of the way and took the puck. Doughty then just started running around, and wound up at the blue line trying to make a play he couldn’t make.
What makes it worse is Doughty is 35-years-old, and hasn’t played enough games yet to be in game shape.
Then Jesper Bratt (New Jersey Devils) was around the net and found Joel Eriksson-Ek (Wild) all alone off to the side of the net, and he easily tied the game at 3-3.
If Canada could’ve won in regulation time, they would’ve picked up three points, but once overtime started, that was off the table.
MacKinnon was a one-man wrecking crew in the 10-minute extra session, as Gustafsson stopped him four times as he used his speed to set himself up for glorious opportunities.
Of Canada’s 28 shots on goal in the game, MacKinnon finished with six shots, four of which coming in overtime.
I have said time-and-time again what a horrendous defensive defenseman Erik Karlsson (Penguins) is. He only had two shifts in overtime, one was 12 seconds and the other was 10 seconds.
However, it was enough time for him to lose the game for Sweden.
It was Crosby, again, giving Mitch Marner (Maple Leafs) a drop pass, and Marner approached Karlsson with speed as he entered the Sweden end. All the defenseman did was back up into his goaltender, allowing Marner to win it for Canada.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is not thought of as highly in Sweden as he was back when he was the first overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
Dahlin was the No. 6 defenseman on the Swedish blue line, and didn’t get a single shift in the 6:06 overtime. Dahlin is a much better defender than Karlsson has ever been, so if you’re going to put a rested guy out in the overtime, I don’t understand why it wasn’t Dahlin.
The 24-year-old played a total of 17:15 and was a minus-1. He had one shot on goal, two blocked shots and two giveaways.
Dahlin is also not on the Swedish penalty kill or their power play.
For the first half of the game, I thought Dahlin was having one of his better games of the season. I thought up to that point, he was Sweden’s best player.
He did a great job of defending MacKinnon on a dangerous play, and immediately got to the crease to sweep away a puck that had gotten through Gustafsson.
For the most part, Dahlin played with Forsling. In the last minute of the third period, the Swedish coaching staff did trust him enough to put him out there with captain Victor Hedman (Lightning), who is one of the best defensemen in the NHL.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the staff uses Dahlin in games against Finland and the United States.
With his three assists, Crosby was easily voted the star of the game.
The U.S. plays Finland on Thursday night in Montreal.