Team North America Beats Sweden 4-3 In OT At World Cup Of Hockey 2016

Nathan MacKinnon scored the final goal with 49 seconds remaining in overtime to lead Team North America to a thrilling, 4-3 victory over Sweden in the penultimate day of preliminary-round games of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Wednesday.

Team North America Beats Sweden 4-3 In OT At World Cup Of Hockey 2016

The roster of talented 23-and-under North American players is now one step closer to advancing to the semifinals. Team North American can only progress if Finland defeats Russia on Thursday. Sweden earned a point with the OT loss, and will advance thanks to its 2-1 record.

The firs 1:35 of Wednesday’s game was filled with excitement. The North Americans took a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds in on Auston Matthew’s goal. Twenty-six seconds later, Johnny Gaudreau was taken down and awarded a penalty shot after he split Sweden’s top defensive pair, , Anton Stralman and Victor Hedman, on a potential breakaway. Gaudreau missed the penalty, but teammate Vincent Trochek put the puck pas goalkeeper Henrik Lundqvist at 1:35 to make it 2-0.

Sweden then settled in, however, and answered with two of their own goals in the first period. Swedish defenseman Erik Karlsson called the first 95 seconds of the game “a slap in the face.”

The North Americans’ speed seemed to outmatch the Swedes’ almost entirely.

“We play these guys a lot in the NHL,” said Swedish center Nicklas Backstrom. “Maybe it was a little weird for them to mix U.S. and Canada. But if you look at them, they’re a great team. “

Lundqvist finished with an impressive 45 saves on 49 shots. With starting goalie Matt Murray out with a thumb injury, John Gibson stopped 35 of 38 shots for North America.

North America led 3-2 after two periods, and also led in shots, 37-27.

Patrik Berglund tied the game for Sweden with 6:50 remaining in the third period. Sweden entered the tournament with one of the strongest power plays of the eight teams, although it struggled in that category, going 0-for-5 against Team North America.

MacKinnon scored the final goal after finding himself alone in front. He lofted a shot high into the net after Lundqvist missed a swipe at the puck.

One of North America’s biggest stars, Connor McDavid, noted how much his team had likely surprised scores of hockey fans in this World Cup.

“We turned some heads,” McDavid said. “People didn’t know what to expect when we came into this tournament, but we’ve beat two good hockey teams, and ultimately maybe even should have beat the Russians.”

Besides Gaudreau and Lundqvist, Philadelphia Flyer defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere of Team North America also established himself as a star of the game. Gostisbehere proved to be a defensive wiz and playmaker who can control the puck at both ends of the ice.

After Finland and Russia face off on Thursday, Team USA and the Czech Republic will also meet in a meaningless preliminary-round match, the final game of the first round. Canada eliminated USA 4-2 on Tuesday.

TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 21: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of Team North America scores the game-winning goal in overtime past Henrik Lundqvist #30 of Team Sweden during the World Cup of Hockey tournament at the Air Canada Centre on September 21, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)