MONTREAL (AP) 鈥� Canada鈥檚 absurdly talented power play did not take long to make a difference at on Wednesday night.
With Sweden鈥檚 William Nylander in the penalty box for high-sticking, Connor McDavid got the puck to Sidney Crosby, who found Nathan MacKinnon wide open with a no-look pass for the just 12 seconds into the power play and 56 seconds into the game. There was almost nothing goaltender Filip Gustavsson to do to stop the shot.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of talk about that first unit (and) a lot of nerves, honestly,鈥� MacKinnon said. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 played best on best for Team Canada ever, so definitely a lot of adrenaline, a lot of nerves, so it was nice to get an open net early. It definitely settled me in. Really great play by Connor and Sid.鈥�
Coach Jon Cooper put all of his top NHL regular-season and playoff MVPs and Stanley Cup champions together with a unit of McDavid, Crosby, MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Sam Reinhart. It was Monday that the group had the potential of being special.
鈥淥bviously a ton of talent, a ton of skill,鈥� Crosby said that day. 鈥淗aving to think and move quickly and that sort of thing 鈥� be instinctive but also react to some of the plays that they make. I think that鈥檚 fun.鈥�
Makar said he enjoys just watching his teammates work from his spot on the point.
鈥淲e got fast players that can move around the zone, but we鈥檝e got to make sure we stay a threat,鈥� Makar said. 鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 cool. Obviously they can all interchange, but it鈥檚 a lot of fun watching those guys.鈥�
This is the first time McDavid, Crosby and MacKinnon are on the same Canada team in international play. Cooper, who considers the 1987 Canada Cup the best display of the sport in hockey history, said of his roster, 鈥淭here鈥檚 just weapons all over the ice.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 really fun 鈥� really fun to know that everybody can think on the same level, can execute on the same level,鈥� McDavid said after . 鈥淚t鈥檚 really, really fun. We鈥檝e worked hard at it the two days at practice. Obviously we had 10 seconds of power-play time, but we made it worthwhile. Fun unit to be. Going to be a lot more work to go, but it was a good start.鈥�
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AP NHL:
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
