The first 4 Nations Face-Off game is off to a blistering start, with Canada and Sweden fighting it out to the ice. Canada was leading after Nathan MacKinnon scored the tournament’s first goal just 56 seconds into the clash. However, tragedy struck shortly after Brad Marchand doubled Canada’s lead as defenseman Shea Theodore suffered an injury.

A hit from Sweden’s Adrian Kempe resulted in the defenseman getting shoved into the side wall. While it wasn’t an intentional or dirty hit, Theodore’s head smashed into the panel. His right wrist took the damage as the Vegas Golden Knights players tried to brace from the impact against the wall. His reaction was immediate and unfortunately, Theodore didn’t return to action.

Sportsnet posted the footage of the hit, which showed Theodor’s wrist getting awkwardly crushed against the side wall. However, that was only the bringing of the bad news for Theodore’s 4 Nations Face-Off campaign. TNT Network’s Jackie Redmond posted a concerning update shortly after the second period of the Canada-Sweden clash.

“Can confirm Shea Theodore got X-Rays during the 2nd period. Update to come,” posted Redmond. Shortly after that, B/R Open Ice took to X and broke the devastating news: “Jon Cooper says Shea Theodore is out for the rest of the 4 Nations tournament.” Cooper expressed his sadness for Theodor, who was super excited about the tournament.

“It’s heartbreaking for the kid. And he was the first one there at the door high-fiving everybody when we came off,” Cooper lamented to the press during the post-match interview. However, it wasn’t all bad for Team Canada as the tournament’s first match lived up to all the hope and more as Canada got off to a victorious start in Montreal.

The 4 Nations Face-Off is off to a tremendous start

While Canada enjoyed a dominant first period, things started going downhill, starting with the defenseman’s injury. Sweden wouldn’t go down without a fight and came out swinging in the second period. Jonas Brodin led the charge and narrowed the gap to one goal, and the team remained unfazed despite Mark Stone scoring Canada’s third. Then Sweden hit the home side with the third-period surge.

In the third period, however, goals from Adrian Kempe and Eriksson Ek fired the game into overtime. The game continued to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller until Mitch Marner sealed the deal, burying the puck in the back of the net after a picture-perfect cross from none other than Sidney Crosby. The Penguins star who nearly missed the game proved instrumental to Canada’s inaugural 4 Nations victory with three assists.

The opening game proved that the tournament was far more than the gimmick many thought it would be. “For all of the people who said this tournament doesn’t matter, or that it’s a made-up tournament, etc… Sorry, but this is great stuff, great theater. I’ll take this over a regular season game in February or an all-star game any day of the week. This is fabulous stuff,” said Penguins senior writer Josh Yohe.

Finally, there was the packed stadium. 21,105 hockey fans filled Bell Centre to the brim to watch the much-discussed 4 Nations Face-Off. The massive attendance proved that fans are hungry to watch NHL players participate in international tournaments. And if the first game was any indication, then the rest of the short tournament should also be an exciting one.