Welcome to Instant Reaction &#8212; 4 Nations Face-Off edition! Typically, we give our Instant Reaction to <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a> games, but since those aren&#8217;t happening right now, we thought we&#8217;d do the same for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It was all <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/canada-usa-show-4-nations-lines-sidney-crosby-play-sweden-wednesday">Canada</a> to start this game. As it should have been. I want every single one of you who pretended like <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/4-nations-face-off-notebook-8-quick-thoughts-tournament-kicks-montreal">this tournament</a> would be anything but awesome to show yourselves now. Because I knew you&#8217;d be wrong, but now everyone can see that you were objectively wrong.
Canada is bursting with talent, and they were eager to show that off when William Nylander took the game&#8217;s first penalty. A reminder that Canada&#8217;s first power play unit is lining up as follows:
Makar 
McDavid-Reinhart-MacKinnon 
Crosby
Can you guess what happened when those five players got a chance to step onto the ice together?
Magic. Magic happened.
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OH SID THAT IS FILTHY 🤢
CANADA SCORES IN THE OPENING MINUTE <a href="https://t.co/bU2ijPoSvA">pic.twitter.com/bU2ijPoSvA</a>
&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889849310491079082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Go ahead, watch that goal and tell me how you&#8217;d rather be watching the Canucks take on Utah or Anaheim in game 57 of the regular season rather than this.
Canada kept their foot on the gas, and while it may feel weird to root for Connor McDavid, he was a zone entry machine early on. This Canadian team will be a force as long as both McDavid and MacKinnon are their 1-2 punch down the middle.
Speaking of players it&#8217;s weird and hard to root for&#8230;
Brad Marchand scored Canada&#8217;s next goal, another play where Filip Gustavsson had no chance. Tocchet was behind the Canada bench, but if he were behind Sweden&#8217;s, I&#8217;d bet he&#8217;d explain post game that this is a play that Victor Hedman can&#8217;t &#8220;gamble&#8221; or &#8220;swing&#8221; on.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Marchand adds another for Team Canada off the feed from Jarvis and Point 🚨 <a href="https://t.co/0jJeTaWoXI">pic.twitter.com/0jJeTaWoXI</a>
&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889854768362955000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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2-0 Canada.
After that goal, Canada went into protect mode a bit, and Sweden got onto the board halfway through the second when Jonas Brodin fired a puck through traffic and over Jodan Binnington&#8217;s shoulder to make it 2-1.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Brodin gets Sweden on the board 🇸🇪 <a href="https://t.co/WjO6mOTyVy">pic.twitter.com/WjO6mOTyVy</a>
&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889867378520895716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Sweden was playing with a ton more confidence than they did in the first, and what looked like it was going to be an easy victory for Canada started to look like a much closer game.
Canada extended their lead to two once again late in the second after a sharp defensive play from Mark Stone sprung Crosby the other way. Crosby did his thing, bursting into the zone, creating space, then finding Stone, who struck quickly to make it 3-1 Canada. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
ANOTHER FILTHY PLAY BY SID
Oh yeah this is fun 🔥🍎 <a href="https://t.co/jmmvL8pWC6">pic.twitter.com/jmmvL8pWC6</a>
&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889871326539616266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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This game got close once again when Adrian Kempe got the third period started with a bang for Sweden by backing in the Canadian defence and ripping a shot past Binnington.
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What a shot by Kempe to cut Canada&#39;s lead 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/jSVHLOi5u1">pic.twitter.com/jSVHLOi5u1</a>
&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889878103930851799?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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3-2.
Sweden kept up their pressure, and absolutely dissected Canada&#8217;s fourth line to tie this one up.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
What a shot by Kempe to cut Canada&#39;s lead 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/jSVHLOi5u1">pic.twitter.com/jSVHLOi5u1</a>
&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889878103930851799?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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3-3. 
After 10 minutes of play into this game, I really thought Canada was going to cruise to victory. Sweden looked so outmatched early on, but this was a close game.
Filip Gustavsson saved his best save of the game for the perfect time, as he robbed Abbotsford&#8217;s Devon Toews on the doorstep after a tic-tac-toe passing play with just under 10 minutes to go.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
GUSTAVSSON ROBBED DEVON TOEWS😱 <a href="https://t.co/OPSQOfNMZZ">pic.twitter.com/OPSQOfNMZZ</a>
&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889883646175162468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Josh Morrissey gave Sweden their first power play of the game when he was called for high-sticking on Joel Eriksson Ek. The Sweden power play generated a few chances, but ultimately came up short. This game remained tied through regulation, so we headed to a 10-minute 3-on-3 overtime.
Jordan Binnington made a great save in overtime as he pushed across to rob Mika Zibanejad on a one-timer. You can write this one down as game-saving.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
WHAT A SAVE BY JORDAN BINNINGTON! <a href="https://t.co/Gvx5KiCEAv">pic.twitter.com/Gvx5KiCEAv</a>
&mdash; SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/SleeperNHL/status/1889888412557345005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Binnington made another great save after Adrian Kempe, Gustav Forsling, and Elias Pettersson turned in a phenomenal shift.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
WHAT A SAVE BY JORDAN BINNINGTON! <a href="https://t.co/Gvx5KiCEAv">pic.twitter.com/Gvx5KiCEAv</a>
&mdash; SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/SleeperNHL/status/1889888412557345005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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That opened the door for Sidney Crosby to make some more magic happen.
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MITCH MARNER WINS IT FOR CANADA 🚨🇨🇦
WHAT AN OPENING TO THE 4 NATIONS <a href="https://t.co/RXk3DQYemS">pic.twitter.com/RXk3DQYemS</a>
&mdash; B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) <a href="https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889890307757555975?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Crosby with the drop pass, Mitch Marner with the finish.
4-3 final.
What&#8217;s your instant reaction to this game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff Live</a> is on the road! From February 10th to 20th, we’re bringing you live shows every weekday straight from Four Nations, delivering exclusive coverage, insider analysis, and all the tournament action as it unfolds. Don’t miss a beat—subscribe to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff YouTube channel</a> and follow us on social for the latest updates. It’s international hockey, so expect intensity, excitement, and maybe even a little chaos. Stay locked in and catch us live from Four Nations!

Welcome to Instant Reaction -- 4 Nations Face-Off edition! Typically, we give our Instant Reaction to <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a> games, but since those aren't happening right now, we thought we'd do the same for the 4 Nations Face-Off.

It was all <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/canada-usa-show-4-nations-lines-sidney-crosby-play-sweden-wednesday">Canada</a> to start this game. As it should have been. I want every single one of you who pretended like <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/4-nations-face-off-notebook-8-quick-thoughts-tournament-kicks-montreal">this tournament</a> would be anything but awesome to show yourselves now. Because I knew you'd be wrong, but now everyone can see that you were objectively wrong.

Canada is bursting with talent, and they were eager to show that off when William Nylander took the game's first penalty. A reminder that Canada's first power play unit is lining up as follows:

Makar
McDavid-Reinhart-MacKinnon
Crosby

Can you guess what happened when those five players got a chance to step onto the ice together?

Magic. Magic happened.

https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889849310491079082

Go ahead, watch that goal and tell me how you'd rather be watching the Canucks take on Utah or Anaheim in game 57 of the regular season rather than this.

Canada kept their foot on the gas, and while it may feel weird to root for Connor McDavid, he was a zone entry machine early on. This Canadian team will be a force as long as both McDavid and MacKinnon are their 1-2 punch down the middle.

Speaking of players it's weird and hard to root for...

Brad Marchand scored Canada's next goal, another play where Filip Gustavsson had no chance. Tocchet was behind the Canada bench, but if he were behind Sweden's, I'd bet he'd explain post game that this is a play that Victor Hedman can't "gamble" or "swing" on.

https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889854768362955000

2-0 Canada.

After that goal, Canada went into protect mode a bit, and Sweden got onto the board halfway through the second when Jonas Brodin fired a puck through traffic and over Jodan Binnington's shoulder to make it 2-1.

https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889867378520895716

Sweden was playing with a ton more confidence than they did in the first, and what looked like it was going to be an easy victory for Canada started to look like a much closer game.

Canada extended their lead to two once again late in the second after a sharp defensive play from Mark Stone sprung Crosby the other way. Crosby did his thing, bursting into the zone, creating space, then finding Stone, who struck quickly to make it 3-1 Canada. 

https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889871326539616266

This game got close once again when Adrian Kempe got the third period started with a bang for Sweden by backing in the Canadian defence and ripping a shot past Binnington.

https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889878103930851799

3-2.

Sweden kept up their pressure, and absolutely dissected Canada's fourth line to tie this one up.

https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889878103930851799

3-3. 

After 10 minutes of play into this game, I really thought Canada was going to cruise to victory. Sweden looked so outmatched early on, but this was a close game.

Filip Gustavsson saved his best save of the game for the perfect time, as he robbed Abbotsford's Devon Toews on the doorstep after a tic-tac-toe passing play with just under 10 minutes to go.

https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889883646175162468

Josh Morrissey gave Sweden their first power play of the game when he was called for high-sticking on Joel Eriksson Ek. The Sweden power play generated a few chances, but ultimately came up short. This game remained tied through regulation, so we headed to a 10-minute 3-on-3 overtime.

Jordan Binnington made a great save in overtime as he pushed across to rob Mika Zibanejad on a one-timer. You can write this one down as game-saving.

https://twitter.com/SleeperNHL/status/1889888412557345005

Binnington made another great save after Adrian Kempe, Gustav Forsling, and Elias Pettersson turned in a phenomenal shift.

https://twitter.com/SleeperNHL/status/1889888412557345005

That opened the door for Sidney Crosby to make some more magic happen.

https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1889890307757555975

Crosby with the drop pass, Mitch Marner with the finish.

4-3 final.

What's your instant reaction to this game? Let us know in the comments section below!

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138774" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2099/08/Article-727x404-1.png" alt="" width="728" height="405" /></a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff Live</a> is on the road! From February 10th to 20th, we’re bringing you live shows every weekday straight from Four Nations, delivering exclusive coverage, insider analysis, and all the tournament action as it unfolds. Don’t miss a beat—subscribe to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff YouTube channel</a> and follow us on social for the latest updates. It’s international hockey, so expect intensity, excitement, and maybe even a little chaos. Stay locked in and catch us live from Four Nations!

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