Bell Centre gets instant classic with Four Nations Faceoff Canada-Sweden matchup

The Four Nations Faceoff was a polarizing subject as the NHL entered its break. The concept of best-on-best hockey was something everyone could get behind. Everyone worried whether the players would take it seriously enough to make it a meaningful tournament, and that question had an answer early. The atmosphere in the Bell Centre was electric, from warm-up to opening ceremonies and the anthems.

The roof almost blew off the building when Mario Lemieux came on the ice for opening ceremonies, and the fans gave Sidney Crosby his first ovation of the night when he joined Lemieux at center ice. However, the Montreal Canadien fandom came out in everyone when they gave severe boos to Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

Then, the puck dropped, and Canada and Sweden combined to have one of the most highly skilled games we've seen in years. This is no massive surprise, as it's the first best-on-best competition where everyone is trying since 2016. The game has gotten faster every season, culminating in an unbelievable pace in this game. Somehow, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon looked faster than usual, and two of those players factored in on a beautiful powerplay goal to open the scoring.

Much was made of Canada's first powerplay unit of Crosby, McDavid, MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Sam Reinhart. There was so much hype surrounding the five men that it felt impossible for them to ever live up to the expectations. However, ten seconds into the team's man advantage, McDavid to Crosby to MacKinnon sent the Bell Centre into a frenzy and created a core memory that all of Canada will cherish forever.

It isn't that it was the prettiest goal ever scored. The fact that everyone talked for over a year about the possibility of three of these players finally suiting up for the same team and then combining for the tournament's first goal had a poetic feeling that only the best sporting moments can give. You can never say that Crosby didn't have a feel for delivering a special moment, and the list of times he has done it in a Canada jersey continues to grow.

Canada dominated the early portions of the game, including a Brad Marchand goal that confused the Canadiens fans in the building when they had to cheer his name. Sweden made it 2-1 on a Jonas Brodin goal before Crosby made another spectacular play to Mark Stone to make it 3-1. Jordan Binnington looked shaky in the third period, leading to two Sweden goals and a 3-3 tie after regulation time.

MacKinnon and McDavid created more special moments in overtime but could not solve Filip Gustavsson. Crosby interestingly didn't play much through the overtime period, but when he jumped over the boards, much like his golden goal in Vancouver in 2010, you felt like something special was about to happen. Crosby took the puck and drew three defenders into him, entering the attacking zone before sending a telegraphed drop pass to Mitch Marner. Marner had plenty of ice to work with and buried the overtime winner to give Crosby his third assist.

The main takeaway from this game was Crosby's ability to dominate the game as a 38-year-old amongst the next generation. Connor McDavid might be the fastest and most skilled, and Nathan MacKinnon, thanks to a unique blend of speed and physicality, will be two of the best players of their generation. However, if this game taught us anything, Sidney Crosby is still one of the greatest players and leaders in hockey history.