Mitch Marner capped an electrifying night at the Bell Centre with an overtime goal as Canada edged Sweden 4-3 in the first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Wednesday.
Marner, assisted by Sidney Crosby, scored at 6:06 of overtime, securing the win in the first best-on-best international tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
"I've been saying we've been missing best-on-best, and that's obviously why," said Canada’s Connor McDavid. "That’s as high-end a game as you’re going to find."
Marner seals it in overtime
Marner collected a drop pass from Crosby in the neutral zone and weaved through Sweden’s defense before firing a shot past Filip Gustavsson. The goal sent the home crowd into celebration and gave Canada two points in the tournament standings.
"You tell 10-year-old Mitch that he scored an overtime goal assisted by Sidney Crosby—it's pretty crazy," Marner said.
Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, and Mark Stone also scored for Canada, while Jordan Binnington made 23 saves.
Crosby recorded three assists, continuing his dominance in international play.
Canada has now won 26 consecutive games in international competition with Crosby in the lineup.
Sweden rallies before falling in OT
Sweden forced overtime with a third-period comeback after trailing 3-1. Adrian Kempe scored at 1:54, and Joel Eriksson Ek tied it at 8:59 off a cross-slot pass from Jesper Bratt.
Jonas Brodin also scored for Sweden, while Gustavsson stopped 24 shots. Sweden earned one point for the overtime loss.
"We had our chances to get all three points," Sweden captain Victor Hedman said. "We’ll take the point and move forward."
The tournament continues Thursday as the United States faces Finland at Bell Centre.
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