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Connor Brown scored the decisive goal early in the third period, leading Canada to a 5-3 victory over Sweden in their opening game of the world hockey championship on Friday in Fribourg, Switzerland.
Canada took a 2-0 lead after the first period and held a 3-2 advantage late in the second. However, Sweden tied the game 3-3 by the end of the second period.
The Canadians regained the lead for good 3:31 into the third when Brown received a cross-ice pass from Porter Martone and blasted a shot past Swedish goaltender Magnus Hellberg.
Canada head coach Misha Donskov praised his team’s performance, saying, “We had a really good first period, and Sweden pushed hard in the second, but collectively I really liked our third period. I liked the way we pushed back and managed the puck to finish the game.”
He added, “We are putting our structure and plan in place, and we have not had much time to do that, so we wanted to get the group on the same page quickly and manage the emotions on the bench.”
Brown, 32, began his NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2015-16 season and played three-plus seasons for the team. He was traded to Ottawa in 2019, spent three seasons there, and then joined the Edmonton Oilers for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. This past season, Brown scored 18 goals and totaled 43 points in 75 games for the New Jersey Devils, who signed him as a free agent last July.
John Tavares, Ryan O’Reilly, Dylan Holloway, and Dylan Cozens also scored for Canada. Martone, Darnell Nurse, and Fraser Minten each contributed two assists. In goal, Jet Greaves made 25 saves, while Hellberg stopped 26 shots for Sweden.
Canada will face Italy on Saturday at 10:20 a.m. ET.
O’Reilly reflected on the match: “It was a good game. I thought we showed great resiliency by sticking with it when things got tough in the second period. It was our first time playing together as a full group, so obviously there are some things we can tighten up, but I thought that was a great game to start our tournament because [the Swedes] are a good team. It was good to have some adversity and find a way to win.”
Tavares opened the scoring early in the game by beating Hellberg on Canada’s first shot at 2:21. O’Reilly made it 2-0 with a backhand shot with four minutes remaining in the first period.
Sweden, the bronze medalist last year, got on the board in the middle period. Jacob Larsson scored at 8:21, and Lucas Raymond tied the game on a power play midway through the frame.
Canada then regained the lead when Holloway scored from the slot with 5:44 left in the second. Sweden answered quickly when Mattias Ekholm tied it again with a one-timer from the point just over a minute later.
Canada is the most successful nation in the tournament’s history with 28 titles but last won in 2023. The team is eager to bounce back after finishing fifth last year, boosted by the addition of Sidney Crosby, who returned to the roster for a second straight year and a fourth time overall after his Pittsburgh Penguins were eliminated from the NHL playoffs.
Nineteen-year-old Macklin Celebrini was named Canada’s captain, while Crosby joined as an alternate captain, replacing Tavares.
In other tournament news, Switzerland started its pursuit of a first-ever world championship by defeating defending champion United States 3-1 in Zurich. Sven Andrighetto and Pius Suter each had two-point games, and goaltender Leonardo Genoni made 19 saves.
Suter gave Switzerland the early lead at 2:03, assisted by Andrighetto, who scored again later in the first period with help from Suter. Alex Steeves scored for the U.S. 8:45 into the third period, but Ken Jager deflected in a shot from Simon Knak with 3:39 remaining to seal the Swiss victory.
Switzerland, after finishing as runner-up the past two years, hopes to achieve more success at home. The U.S., which has just two returning players from last year’s title-winning roster, will face Britain, a newcomer to the top division, on Sunday.
The U.S. won its second world championship and first since 1933 by edging Switzerland 1-0 in overtime in last year’s final.
